Report: Budget Braces for More Changes in Parliament

W460

Lebanon’s 2019 state budget awaits the parliament approval amid reports that new amendments could be introduced by some lawmakers in a bid to help slash the ballooning budget deficit further, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

Parliamentary sources told the daily: “The budget in the form referred to parliament, lacks many sources that could provide additional treasury income which in turn could help in reducing the deficit further.”

The daily said MPs of the Progressive Socialist Party plan to suggest several changes, mainly ones related to illegal seaside property, and a reduction in salaries and allocations of public authorities.

Similarly, the Strong Republic bloc has agreed to keep its meetings open to follow through the meetings of the Finance and Budget Committee in order to help develop and modify some budget items, the newspaper added .

“The budget is going to be scrutinized in parliament,” said the sources, “Kataeb MPs are going to raise the issue of old accounting records, and how the budget lacks an economic vision and the necessary reforms which appear almost non-existent in the government project.”

“Many international financial institutions have described the budget as unconvincing. Moreover, a number of ministers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the “populist” method that governed the budget discussions in Cabinet and accordingly drew pessimistic sign about the possibility of maintaining the deficit at 7.59%,” they added.

On Monday, the Cabinet approved a budget expected to trim Lebanon's deficit to 7.59 percent of gross domestic product -- a nearly 4-point drop from the previous year.

Lebanon has promised donors to slash public spending as part of reforms to unlock $11 billion in aid pledged at a conference in Paris last year.

The draft budget still needs to be approved by parliament.

House speaker Nabih Berri has said it could take up to a month for parliament to pass it.

Growth in Lebanon has plummeted in the wake of endless political deadlocks in recent years, compounded by the 2011 breakout of civil war in neighbouring Syria.

The country has been racking up public debt since the end of its own 1975-1990 civil war, which now stands at more than 150 percent of GDP, according to the finance ministry.

SourceNaharnet
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