Lebanese Ministry of Information
President Michel Aoun has not yet taken a final stance on the public sector’s salary scale and tax hike bills, pending the outcome of an expert report on the drawbacks of the two laws on the country’s ailing economy, official sources said . However, Economy Minister Raed Khoury said he expected Aoun to announce his position on the salary scale bill this week. “Whether President Aoun signs the bill or not, what matters is to protect Lebanon and the economy,”
Baabda Palace sources denied media reports that Aoun would this week sign the salary scale and tax hike bills, which Parliament endorsed last month. Aoun’s signature is deemed essential for the two laws to be published in the Official Gazette and to go into effect after they have been inked by Speaker Nabih Berri and Hariri.
“This issue [salary scale and tax hike laws] is still under study. President Aoun has not yet taken a final stance on it,”
“The president has tasked a team of experts to examine the salary scale bill and the tax measures and their impact on the economy and state finances. He will take a final stance on this issue in light of the team’s report,” the source said.
Khoury, the economy minister, said Aoun has been studying the economic situation for months, prompting him to distribute a report to ministers during last week’s Cabinet session that warned of alarming figures in the budget deficit and the balance of trade deficit. The report also warned that Lebanon’s public debt, currently estimated at more than $74 billion, would soar to $110 billion in 2020 if no remedies were found to the economic ills.
“President Aoun is telling the Cabinet that necessary measures and plans should be adopted to ensure economic growth and reduce unemployment and public debt,” Khoury told a local radio station earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, speaking to a large delegation of the Lebanese diaspora from the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, the Gulf region and Iraq at Baabda Palace, Aoun stressed that national unity protected Lebanon against terrorism.
“We have succeeded in protecting Lebanon from regional problems and imposing stability and security on its territory,” Aoun said according to a statement released by his media office.
Referring to the Lebanese Army’s pre-emptive strikes against militant groups entrenched in rugged areas on Lebanon’s northeastern border, he said: “We have succeeded in combating terrorism, which has struck and is still striking various countries in the world, including Lebanon, which has suffered from it in one of the stages when preparations to confront it were not sufficient.”
“However, our national unity, which has been bolstered, has protected Lebanon [from terrorism]. We have made great efforts to reinforce this unity,” Aoun said. “A lot of achievements were made following the presidential election, the Cabinet formation and the drafting of a new electoral law that consecrates justice and equality in a better way.” He reassured the Lebanese diaspora that the situation in Lebanon is heading for the better.
