Cabinet to Discuss Security, Budget after Deal on No Additional Taxes

The cabinet is expected to discuss on Monday the draft state budget that seeks to appease citizens and a series of security incidents that have been shaking the country in the past weeks.

An Nahar daily said that agreement has been reached to lower the spending without imposing any taxes. An earlier proposal called for increasing the Value Added Tax from 10 to 12 percent, which faced opposition from several ministers.

The deficit rate has also been placed at 7.5 percent.

According to the newspaper, Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi has been amending the third draft so far upon the request of Prime Minister Najib Miqati.

The discussions on the draft budget “could require two sessions,” a ministerial source said. “But the most important thing is that there was a consensus on its current form.”

The security situation will also dominate the discussions of ministers who will meet at Baabda palace under President Michel Suleiman.

The killing of several Lebanese by Syrian gunfire on the northern border on Saturday, the assassination attempt against March 14 opposition MP Butros Harb along with requests to hand over security agencies with all the so-called telecom data, and road closures in the northern district of Akkar raised fears of a further deterioration in the situation.

A government source told al-Liwaa newspaper that the discussions on the security situation would focus on these issues.