Introduction to the evening news 06-09-2012

The cabinet’s approval of the ranks and salaries scale was accelerated today following two sessions and a 14-hour-long discussion that mainly revolved around the means to fund the scale's additional expenditures. While some financial measures were approved such as fines on maritime property, taxes on bank interests and additional fees on building permits, other measures are yet to be studied.          

In reaction to the decisions taken, Ministers Moqbel, Charbel and Khoury voiced their reservations, while the economic bodies rejected them openly, warning that if the government imposes more direct taxes on economic institutions and citizens, the situation would blow up.          

Was this social crisis defused? The answer will depend on the answers of the Syndicate Coordination Committee, on the approval of the remaining draft laws to fund the expenditures and on the issuance of the decisions’ implementation decrees. Without all these factors, the danger of a possible social crisis remains present.    


For the full LBCI report, watch the video above.