Prime Minister Saad Hariri delivered a speech during the parliament session to respond to the deputies’ statements, whereby he said that “a parliamentary bloc said that the budget comes within an economic vision and the economic vision is included in the cabinet’s policy statement and in Cedre conference, upon which the government received the vote of confidence.”
He noted that Cedre represents the projects that the Lebanese state seeks to implement in all sectors, stating that “instead of adding debts with 14 and 15 % interest, we went to Cedre and the project to modernize the economic laws is a course of action, to which we have committed before the Lebanese and the permanent friends of Lebanon.”
He also tackled boosting the productive sectors in order to raise the growth, revealing that there are 150 initiatives that have been determined in this regard and are included in the McKinsey plan. “Whoever does not approve the economic vision must present an alternative one,” he said.
The PM added that “not every effort must be attacked;” stressing that “if the cabinet were corrupt, then all the parliamentary blocs would also be corrupt.”
He emphasized that the 2019 budget was placed as a foundation for reform, reiterating that no reform can be done without a price and no one should avoid the price.
“The biggest role today should be played by the private sector,” he noted, adding that some institutions operated by the state in Lebanon are operated by the private sector in other countries.