Cabinet Approves Budget, Miqati Says Revenues Almost Equal to Spending
The Cabinet on Thursday approved the 2022 state budget during a session at the Baabda Palace.
Speaking at a press conference after the session, Prime Minister Najib Miqati said the budget’s revenues are expected to be LBP 39,000 billion and its expenditure is expected to be LBP 47,000 billion.
“This is the first time ever that the revenues and expenditure in the budget are this close,” Miqati said.
“There are 400 billion Lebanese liras for social aid, which include compensations for those affected by the Beirut port blast,” Miqati added, noting that the budget is “a first step on the course of financial rectification.”
“There will be a workshop over the economic recovery plan and we will then hold discussions with the holders of Eurobonds in order to reach a settlement and then restructure banks,” the premier went on to say.
Noting that the fees of the so-called “customs dollar” plan will only be enforced when the state budget gets approved in parliament, Miqati added that the exchange rate that will be followed will be according to the Sayrafa platform and “will be announced monthly by the Finance Minister.”
The premier also stressed that medicine, foodstuffs, coffee and tea will be exempted from any customs fees.
“There will be no direct taxes on citizens, but rather fees in return for services. The fee of issuing a criminal record has become LBP 15,000 and these are reasonable increases due to the hike in the prices of paper and other things,” Miqati went on to say.
Noting that electricity generation costs have not been included in the budget and will be discussed separately in the next Cabinet session, Miqati added: “We can no longer provide electricity and telecommunications for free because we no longer have money.”
Source: Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/287826 |