REPORT: Cabinet tackles Lebanon’s financial situation

A Cabinet session was held Tuesday at the Grand Serail under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Tammam Salam to discuss Lebanon’s financial situation.

Following the meeting, Interior Minister Nouhad Mashnouq announced that a session will be held next Monday to follow up on the financial file.

Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi told reporters that the meeting did not discuss Lebanon’s offshore oil and gas wealth, adding that "political stability, which starts by the election of a president, is the only solution for the financial situation in the country."

In the same context, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said that “the crisis is structural and is related to the existence or non-existence of the state and its institutions."

"In order to solve the financial crisis, we must begin with issuing a state budget," he added.

For his part, Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan noted that the financial situation is "delicate but not tragic."

Prior to the meeting, Minister of Health Wael Abou Faour pointed out that the country’s financial status “is difficult,” adding that measures should be taken in this regard.

On another note, Abou Faour said that benefiting from the immediate hospitalization allowances for the Lebanese people, aged 64 years old and above, does not need ratification from the Cabinet.

For his part, Minister Hajj Hassan asserted that discussions over the public finance must be accompanied by discussions over the oil file and the economic crisis.