Nahhas to LBCI: Amendment not possible on wage raise

Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas said that the wage raise decision will not be amended or else every decision issued by the cabinet will be subject to such amendment.  

Nahhas told Nharkom Said TV show that the real challenge does not lie in the fact that the cabinet has issued a wage raise decree; rather it is the effects such an adjustment will have on Lebanon’s competitiveness. Nahhas said that any wage raise that the state cannot afford will have negative repercussions.

Nahhas added that, in the private sector, the wage raise for those earning more than 1.8 million LBP will be negotiated between the worker and the employer. Nahhas stressed that the judicial system will make a decision on whether to appeal the decision.

“A class of citizens living in poverty should not exist in Lebanon”, Nahhas said, hoping that citizens will be provided with the necessary social benefits that will help them leas a descent life.

On a different note, Nahhas announced the establishment of a hotline 1739 to report price violations, adding that the Ministry of Economy has dispatched a number of observers to monitor prices across the country.

Speaking on funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), Nahhas stressed the importance of leaving the task of looking into this issue to the cabinet without any interference from the press. “The issue of funding the STL is not limited to one political party, rather it concerns them all,” Nahhas said.