Caretaker Finance Minister Youssef el-Khalil asserted on Thursday that the budget draft for the 2024 fiscal year, currently under discussion in the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, “remains central to the path of correction and reform, despite the surrounding uproar.”
MPs and Lebanese business organizations do not share this view. They believe that the proposed Finance Bill will overburden the population and deal the final blow to the private sector, especially as it does not propose any reforms.
Khalil highlighted that the project aims “to ensure financial and monetary stability” and to revitalize the Lebanese economy to generate job opportunities.
As an indirect response to this criticism, Khalil expressed openness to “any scientific and realistic proposal or amendment that serves the country’s financial interests.” He emphasized, “We are striving to increase state revenues to enhance the financial balance, facilitating the execution of urgent projects that the state must undertake to improve Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provide essential services, particularly in the areas of social services, health, education and others.”
What if the minister and his government focused on implementing reforms to put an end to the wasteful spending of public funds and improve the country’s condition, rather than burdening citizens with the consequences of past neglect by political leaders, all in the name of increasing revenues?
