BEIRUT — (Xinhua) — A representative of the Lebanese economic sector said on Sunday that about 2,200 companies have closed down in Lebanon since the start of this year because of economic slowdown. “We are on the verge of an economic breakdown,” Mohamad Choucair, head of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, said in a televised interview on TV Channel MTV. Most of the Lebanese have become poor, and Lebanon is about to witness a big number of bankruptcies soon, he said. Choucair urged all Lebanese officials to reach a consensus and form a cabinet in a bid to start necessary economic reforms including an overhaul of the electricity sector and reforms of the salaries in the public sector. Economists told Xinhua that wages, pensions and benefits for public sector employees accounted for 38 percent of the total spending in the 2018 budget.