PM Hariri: 2020 budget approved with no new taxes

Prime Minister Saad Hariri asserted on Monday that the Cabinet agreed on a package of reforms amid the ongoing protests taking place across Lebanon.

 

Hariri’s comments were made after a Cabinet session whereby he said that the new 2020 Budget will have 0.6% deficit with no new taxes.

 

“Banque Du Liban and Lebanese banks will contribute to decreasing the state's deficit,” Hariri added.

 

On another note, he said that salaries of MPs and ministers will be cut by 50%.

 

“A draft law will be prepared to restore money looted from the state,” the premier stressed.

 

This as Hariri announced that the Ministry of Information will be canceled as well as other institutions.

 

“Agreed reforms also include speeding up licensing for power plants,” he added.

Hariri then addressed the protesters in the streets, saying that he will not “allow anyone to threaten or scare them away.”

“These reforms are not intended to ask people to stop protesting,” he concluded by saying.

 

 

 

 

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