Khalil Signals Preparations for 2020 State Budget

Minister of Finance Ali Hassan Khalil circulated a memo to the ministries and state departments to start preparing the draft budget of 2020, were discussions will expectedly start with ministers next week, LBCI reported on Thursday.

In that regard, Interior Minister Raya el-Hassan earlier noted that the government must finalize the 2019 state budget discussions because by law the budget of 2020 must be submitted in one month.

“We should not be too late with the 2019 budget. We have to be aware that we are looking at the budget of 2019 while having to submit the budget of 2020 in a month. We can not handle everything at once. We have to give a positive signal to the markets and the international community,” Hassan told the daily.

The Cabinet has held around 17 sessions to finalize the budget and several parties have accused Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil of hindering the discussions with side proposals.

Lebanon has vowed to slash public spending to unlock $11 billion worth of aid pledged by international donors during an April 2018 conference in Paris.

Last month, Hariri vowed to introduce "the most austere budget in Lebanon's history" to combat the country's bulging fiscal deficit, sparking fears among public sector employees that their salaries may be cut.

Lebanon is one of the world's most indebted countries, with public debt estimated at 141 percent of GDP in 2018, according to credit ratings agency Moody's.