Fayyed Suggests Switch to Approve Wage Scale then Find Funding Sources

MP Ali Fayyad said it is better to appease the people and approve the long-stalled wage scale before the cabinet discusses the sources of funding to cover it, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

The Hizbullah MP told the daily in an interview that he will “suggest holding a legislative session to approve the salary scale in order to appease the employees, and to later discuss the revenue sources to fund it.

He stressed the need to approve it “because the country can not afford any failure in that regard.”

On Thursday, the parliament imposed a series of new taxes that included an increase in the value-added tax (VAT) from 10 to 11% , an increase in levies on financial transactions and other taxes related to cement, stamps, cigarettes and alcoholic beverages.

The parliament says the new taxes are aimed at allocating the needed funds for the pay scale for government employees which include judges, teachers and military personnel.

Kataeb party MPs have strongly denounced the measures. Kataeb chief Sami Gemayel urged the government to address corruption instead of “emptying the citizen's pockets.”

The controversial move was decried by the majority of Lebanese and protesters took to the squares in Beirut and Tripoli to reject the new taxes following calls on social networking websites.