BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s government on Monday agreed a package of long-stalled reforms to try to ease an economic crisis and defuse the biggest protests against the ruling elite in decades. Demonstrators carry national flags during an anti-government protest in Tripoli, Lebanon October 21, 2019. REUTERS/Omar Ibrahim The cabinet also approved a 2020 state budget that does not impose any new taxes on individuals and aims for a deficit of 0.6% of GDP, down from a previous target of around 7%. Commercial banks and the central bank are set to contribute to the deficit cut with 5.1 trillion Lebanese pounds ($3.4 billion), including through a tax hike on bank profits. Under pressure, Hariri and top officials drew up the package at the weekend, as hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets to demand his government resigns.
by AP – Protesters remain despite Lebanese PM Saad Hariri’s reform package
Following a nearly five-hour Cabinet meeting, Hariri announced a series of economic and financial reforms which he described as a “coup,” saying no government in Lebanon’s history has taken such radical steps before. “The decisions that we made today might not fulfill your goals, but for certain it achieves what I have been seeking for two years,” Hariri told the protesters. “These decisions are not in exchange for anything. I am not going to ask you to stop protesting and stop expressing your anger. This is a decision that you take,” he added. Following his speech at the presidential palace, thousands of people gathered outside his office in downtown Beirut chanting: “The people want to bring down the regime,” and “Revolution, revolution!”
The protests have paralyzed the country for five days, with schools, universities, banks and other business shuttered. The protests are building on long-simmering anger at a ruling class that has divvied up power among themselves and amassed wealth for decades but has done little to fix a crumbling economy and dilapidated infrastructure. It was not clear how the situation would move forward, especially when the main political parties have all taken the position that the government should not resign.
Here is a list of the main plans the government agreed on:
1- A reduction of 1 trillion Lebanese pounds ($663 million) in the deficit in the power sector, which bleeds state funds while failing to meet the country’s needs. Hariri said on Friday that covering the deficit of the state-owned electricity company costs the treasury $2 billion a year.
2- Speeding up the process of awarding contracts for the construction of new power plants to complete it within four months
3- Plans to approve, within three weeks, the first phase of a capital investment program that donors have pledged to finance with $11 billion, on condition of reforms
4- A 50% cut in the salaries of current and former presidents, ministers, and lawmakers
5- Appointing regulatory bodies for the power sector, telecommunications, and civil aviation “as soon as possible”
6- Scrapping the information ministry immediately and a number of obsolete government bodies
7- Setting up scanners at border crossings to combat smuggling and toughening punishments for smugglers
8- Providing an additional 20 billion Lebanese pounds ($13.3 million) to a program that supports poor families
9- Providing $160 million to back housing loans
10- Approving social security benefits for seniors by the end of the year. It was not clear how much this would cost.
11- Passing a law to create a national body to fight corruption by the end of the year
12- Drafting a law that seeks to restore stolen public funds
13- A 70% cut in the budgets of the state-run Council for Development and Reconstruction, the Central Fund for the Displaced, and the Council for South Lebanon
14- Launching investment projects for the northern and southern entrances of the capital Beirut
15- Approving a general amnesty law by the end of the year
Compiled by Ellen Francis, Editing by William Maclean Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. MORE FROM REUTERS
