Prime Minister Saad Hariri presided over a new Cabinet meeting dedicated to discussing the draft state budget on Thursday after which Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil announced that “very big progress” has been made towards approving the budget.
“Today we made very big progress and in principle, all the legal articles pertaining to the budget have been finalized,” Khalil said after the session.
“We have started discussing the taxing measures and the amendments and the premier has scheduled three sessions for next week that will start on Monday. According to my estimations, it is possible to finalize the budget during these sessions,” the minister added.
“As for the issue of seaside properties, there is an inclination to replace the item related to slapping fines on seaside properties with a legal article aimed at reaching settlements over these properties, which had been discussed by the (joint) parliamentary committees and the administration and justice and public works committees,” Khalil went on to say.
Due to disputes between the rival political parties, Lebanon has not approved a state budget since 2005.
Date: 23/02/2017
