The board of directors of the ‘Mouvement international des chefs d’entreprises libanais’, or the international movement of Lebanese heads of enterprises (MIDEL), under the chairmanship of Fouad Zmokhol, discussed the 2024 budget, recently approved by Parliament, and its application to private sector companies.
Participants pointed out that “taxes have increased by more than 60 times their previous value and are now higher than those proposed in 2019, based on the dollar rate, but without taking into account that the economic situation has changed, that growth is close to zero, and that the gross domestic product is less than half of what it was” (around $22 billion).
They dwelt on the issue of end-of-service benefits, pointing out that “employees have lost a large part of their income, deposits, and livelihoods; but, at the same time, companies will not be able to bear all the Social Security losses again.”
They believe that there must be transparent negotiations, cooperation, and discussions between the partners in order to reach agreement on this thorny issue. The participants proposed that employees be given a choice: they could either register with the social security CNSS or take out private health insurance provided by the company in conjunction with a private pension fund, which would provide them with an income without relying solely on Social Security.
They addressed the issue of the revaluation and assessment of company assets, which was removed from the draft budget at the last minute. The reason given was that it requires “a reconsideration of this essential point, to enable companies to revalue their assets according to the new exchange rate and to pay simple taxes to settle their affairs after losses.”
Lastly, participants expressed concern that “the decrees regarding implementation may be interpreted and applied differently in each ministry.”
