Lebanese Ministry of Information
Speaker Nabih Berri Monday signed the 2017 state budget and sent it to Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a statement from the Speaker’s office reported.
Parliament endorsed Lebanon’s first state budget in more than a decade on Oct. 19.
Despite violating the Constitution by not including an audit document of past extra budgetary spending, 61 MPs voted for the proposed budget, four voted against and eight abstained. Only 73 lawmakers were present in Parliament during the vote out of 125 current MPs. Three seats are vacant because officials have failed to hold constitutionally required by-elections.
The long-awaited 2017 budget was passed after three days of legislative sessions headed by Berri.
Hariri will need to sign the law before it is passed to President Michel Aoun for his signature and finally published in the Official Gazette.
