2024-01-27T06:42:03+00:00
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/ The Lebanese Parliament approved, late at night, the draft budget law for the year 2024 after introducing amendments to it.
Experts say the bill neglects to include crucial reforms that would help the country emerge from the financial collapse that has devastated the public sector for nearly five years.
The bill was approved after three days of wrangling that included several scuffles in the parliament chamber with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, highlighting the deep divisions that have paralyzed Lebanese politics and prolonged a presidential vacuum that has lasted more than a year.
The budget, which was amended over months from the version Mikati presented to parliament, projected a significant increase in state revenues earned through value-added tax and customs duties.
It also included measures that appeared to target those who made ill-gotten gains during Lebanon’s financial crisis, by fining companies that unfairly benefited from the central bank’s former currency exchange platform and traders who used the central bank’s support on imports to make profits.