Strong Lebanon Files Draft Laws to Ease Virus' Economic Impact
The Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc on Thursday submitted five draft laws aimed at addressing the economic repercussions of the coronavirus crisis.
Bloc secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan will hold a press conference early next week to explain them.
The proposals call for:
1. Establishing a fund for supporting small and medium institutions so that they don’t lose their work.
2. Exempting coronavirus-related foreign grants from fees and taxes.
3. Suspending Article 32 of the state budget which prevents municipalities from offering aid and allowing them to offer aid exclusively in coronavirus-related cases.
4. Suspending contractual, legal and judicial deadlines except for matters related to aliment and other humanitarian issues.
5. Capping bank interests on accounts receivable.
Human Rights Watch warned Wednesday that millions in Lebanon risk food insecurity due to the coronavirus lockdown unless the government provides urgent assistance.
Lebanon in mid-March ordered residents to stay at home and all non-essential businesses to close to halt the spread of COVID-19, which has officially infected 582 people and killed 19 nationwide.
Before the pandemic erupted, Lebanon was struggling with its worst economic crisis in decades, with 45 percent of the population facing poverty according to official estimates.
The economic crisis since last year had already caused many people to lose their jobs or take salary cuts, and stay-at-home measures to counter the virus have now prevented even more from earning a wage.
Source: Naharnet
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