ZCZC
BCN-06
LEBANON-ECONOMY-BUDGET
Lebanon parliament passes 2019 austerity budget
BEIRUT, July 20, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Lebanon’s parliament Friday approved a
2019 austerity budget aimed at rescuing an economy crumbling under massive
debt and unlocking billions of dollars in international aid, state media
reported.
The vote came nearly two months after cabinet approved the budget, which is
expected to trim Lebanon’s deficit to 7.59 percent of gross domestic product
— a nearly 4-point drop from the previous year.
The deficit was 11.2 percent of GDP in 2018.
Lebanon is one of the world’s most indebted countries, with public debt
estimated at 141 percent of GDP in 2018, according to credit ratings agency
Moody’s.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said “parliament passed the 2019
budget”, but gave no further details. Officials were not immediately
available to comment on the vote.
Before the vote dozens of retired military and security personnel
demonstrated outside parliament to denounce a decision to reduce their
pensions as part of the austerity package.
Army veterans will face new taxes on their pensions as a result of budget
cuts, Defence Minister Elias Bou Saab said on Friday.
Protesters clashed with security forces as they tried to breach a barbed-
wire barricade erected outside parliament.
They criticised officials for targeting public sector pensions as part of
the austerity package, while failing to enact more meaningful reforms, such
as battling rampant corruption.
Friday’s vote also capped days of heated parliamentary debates, broadcasted
live on television, over proposed budget cuts.
According to NNA, 18 lawmakers voted against the 2019 budget, while 83
voted in favour.
Growth in Lebanon has plummeted in the wake of endless political deadlocks
in recent years, compounded by the 2011 breakout of civil war in neighbouring
Syria.
The country has been racking up public debt since the end of its own 1975-
1990 civil war, which now stands at more than 150 percent of GDP, according
to the finance ministry.
The small Mediterranean country has promised donors to slash public
spending as part of reforms to unlock $11 billion in aid pledged at a
conference in Paris last year.
BSS/AFP/HR/1110