The parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, chaired by MP Ibrahim Kanaan, met twice on Wednesday. It examined and approved the budgets of the Ministries of Education, Displaced Persons, Administrative Development, Finance, Telecommunications and Industry, as well as those of the National Anti-Corruption, Human Rights, Inspection and Relief Authorities, as part of the review of the draft budget for fiscal year 2024. This was approved by the Council of Ministers on September 12.
At the close of the second session, Kanaan affirmed that he had finalized the 2024 budget credits and that, over the next two days, the commission would study the outstanding points, "combat" the major shortcomings of the government's draft budget, particularly as relates to taxes and increases, and amend unrealistic appropriations in the draft budget. He assured that the committee's report will be submitted next week, before Parliament is invited to meet.
"What we are doing in Parliament, particularly in the Finance and Budget Committee, is making fundamental amendments to the draft presented by the government. We are doing so in light of major violations, such as Treasury advances. The government has no right to grant advances throughout the year to ministries and departments without the advances being returned," he said.
The MP recalled that, according to public accounting law, "advances are granted to productive institutions capable of returning these advances. We have asked the Ministry of Finance for a list of the thousands of billions recorded as off-budget advances. The government is still approving additional advances during its current meetings."
"So why this budget?" Kanaan continued. "If spending exceeds the budget with Treasury advances that aren't returned, it means the government intends to hide the deficit. The draft budget was submitted to Parliament with a deficit of LBP 17 billion, whereas the actual deficit is over LBP 50 billion. The lack of transparency, the lack of candor, and the unreal figures have brought us to this point. We have been sounding the alarm since 2009, but there has been no commitment to Parliament's recommendations—neither in terms of reforms, nor in terms of cuts to the accounts," he complained.
Regarding waste, Kanaan maintains that the Ministry of Administrative Development has clarified that there are 18 plants, only eight of which are still in operation. "The ministry will provide a written answer to our questions about this and will examine the allocation of the 1,000 billion dollars for the plants. We have suspended this item until we receive the clarification we need, given the many question marks over these plants which are not doing their job," he said.
He also believes that "it is illogical for the waste issue to remain under the responsibility of the Ministry of Administrative Development when it should fall within the remit of the Ministry of the Environment. The Finance Committee has repeatedly made warnings about this, but the persistence of the imbalance testifies to the executive's carelessness in circumventing laws and recommendations. This is unacceptable and must not be allowed to continue."
About the Ministry of Education, he raised the issue of retirees, of whom there are 63,000.
As for the Ministry of Displaced Persons, Kanaan acknowledged that "the budget is modest," but added that he considers it shameful that Lebanon still has a Ministry of Displaced Persons after all these years.
He addressed the issue of the deficit, affirming that "nobody is scaring us with the deficit. The government has presented an imaginary deficit through a third of the budget, not a complete one, and it has no economic vision and unrealistic credits," he said. "Can we have a budget and grant advances outside the budget, so that we are, with advances from the Treasury, faced with a convincing budget?" he questioned.
The committee is expected to hold two sessions a day throughout the week, if MPs turn up, to complete the study of the draft budget within the dates set by the Constitution to avoid it being approved by the government by decree.
Last week, Kanaan expressed his determination to complete budget discussions during the first week of January.
At the close of the second session, Kanaan affirmed that he had finalized the 2024 budget credits and that, over the next two days, the commission would study the outstanding points, "combat" the major shortcomings of the government's draft budget, particularly as relates to taxes and increases, and amend unrealistic appropriations in the draft budget. He assured that the committee's report will be submitted next week, before Parliament is invited to meet.
"What we are doing in Parliament, particularly in the Finance and Budget Committee, is making fundamental amendments to the draft presented by the government. We are doing so in light of major violations, such as Treasury advances. The government has no right to grant advances throughout the year to ministries and departments without the advances being returned," he said.
The MP recalled that, according to public accounting law, "advances are granted to productive institutions capable of returning these advances. We have asked the Ministry of Finance for a list of the thousands of billions recorded as off-budget advances. The government is still approving additional advances during its current meetings."
"So why this budget?" Kanaan continued. "If spending exceeds the budget with Treasury advances that aren't returned, it means the government intends to hide the deficit. The draft budget was submitted to Parliament with a deficit of LBP 17 billion, whereas the actual deficit is over LBP 50 billion. The lack of transparency, the lack of candor, and the unreal figures have brought us to this point. We have been sounding the alarm since 2009, but there has been no commitment to Parliament's recommendations—neither in terms of reforms, nor in terms of cuts to the accounts," he complained.
Regarding waste, Kanaan maintains that the Ministry of Administrative Development has clarified that there are 18 plants, only eight of which are still in operation. "The ministry will provide a written answer to our questions about this and will examine the allocation of the 1,000 billion dollars for the plants. We have suspended this item until we receive the clarification we need, given the many question marks over these plants which are not doing their job," he said.
He also believes that "it is illogical for the waste issue to remain under the responsibility of the Ministry of Administrative Development when it should fall within the remit of the Ministry of the Environment. The Finance Committee has repeatedly made warnings about this, but the persistence of the imbalance testifies to the executive's carelessness in circumventing laws and recommendations. This is unacceptable and must not be allowed to continue."
About the Ministry of Education, he raised the issue of retirees, of whom there are 63,000.
As for the Ministry of Displaced Persons, Kanaan acknowledged that "the budget is modest," but added that he considers it shameful that Lebanon still has a Ministry of Displaced Persons after all these years.
He addressed the issue of the deficit, affirming that "nobody is scaring us with the deficit. The government has presented an imaginary deficit through a third of the budget, not a complete one, and it has no economic vision and unrealistic credits," he said. "Can we have a budget and grant advances outside the budget, so that we are, with advances from the Treasury, faced with a convincing budget?" he questioned.
The committee is expected to hold two sessions a day throughout the week, if MPs turn up, to complete the study of the draft budget within the dates set by the Constitution to avoid it being approved by the government by decree.
Last week, Kanaan expressed his determination to complete budget discussions during the first week of January.
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