The Lebanese Prime Minister revealed that there is a trend to declare a state of economic emergency, pointing out that "the government has begun work on a plan to accelerate public finance reforms," stressing that "the policy of maintaining the stability of the Lebanese pound pegged to the US dollar will continue."
Mr. Harriri also said: Ministers, politicians, and lawmakers who met at the presidential palace at the invitation of President Michel Aoun had agreed on an outline of a plan that would put the public finance and the economy on a more sustainable path, with an agreement to declare a state of economic emergency.
Hariri pointed out that "in light of the difficult economic situation, we as a government have to take quick measures such as completing the budget on time and reducing the budget deficit. In this context, the government will hold more meetings to speed up the work."
Lebanon, is under the weight of one of the heaviest public debt burdens in the world at 150% of GDP, and has been suffering for years in light of the low economic growth and pressure of a large public sector and the costs of debt service and support of the government electricity production.
Hariri stressed that "the proposed measures include not to depart from this year's budget, which includes politically difficult steps such as freezing government appointments, dispensing with units that burden the public treasury and putting publicly owned companies for public subscription."
Source (Alarabiya.net, Edited)
