The Lebanese Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters that Lebanon's budget for 2019 includes a deficit of less than 9 percent of GDP, compared with 11.2 percent in 2018, with broad cuts in spending including "austerity measures”.
"The budget, which is seen as a decisive test of the will of the heavily indebted nation to make reforms, is based on an expected growth of 1.5 percent, but it could reach about 2 percent as the economy moves," Khalil said.
He also explained that "the budget includes an initial surplus compared with an initial deficit in 2018," pointing out that "the most important thing is that we have put ourselves on the path to tackle the growing deficit and we have controlled it," which marks the beginning of further reductions in 2020 and 2021.
Source: (CNBC Arabic Website, Edited)
