Lebanon PM pleads for unity on eve of key budget talks

Lebanese Parliament is supposed to begin revising the draft budget for 2023 before the end of 2022. (Shutterstock)

• ‘We do not have the luxury of time,’ caretaker leader warns political rivals
• Several MPs have criticized items in the draft budget, raising doubts about its likely approval

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has issued a plea for “positive cooperation” ahead of a key parliamentary budget session, telling political rivals that “we do not have the luxury of time amid the numerous issues we are facing.”
Speaking on the eve of discussions on the 2022 budget — approval of which has been delayed for 10 months — Mikati said that he will continue his efforts to form a government.
However, “in return, concerned parties should refrain from setting conditions and laying obstacles simply to achieve political gains,” he said.
Several MPs have criticized items in the draft budget, raising doubts about its likely approval.
Parliament is supposed to begin revising the draft budget for 2023 before the end of 2022, while the approval of the 2022 budget is among key conditions for negotiations with the International Monetary Fund along with other reform projects.
MP Michel Moussa told Arab News: “There are major loopholes in the draft budget, despite all the discussions that took place in the Finance and Budget Committee for several months. It is true that the draft budget is not the desired project, but we only have three months left, and the budget could still undergo changes as a result of the financial situation in the country.”
MPs have discussed reducing the number of articles in the budget, but items regarding expenditure, imports and the mechanism for financing the deficit remain vague, while no reforms have been included.
Budget talks coincide with the central bank abandoning subsidies on fuel, bringing warnings of a dramatic increase in transport costs and the price of goods.
Finance ministry officials met with IMF specialists to discuss the possibility of extending treasury import and tax policies to ensure basic services, especially in the social and health sectors, are maintained.
Edouard Beigbeder, acting UN humanitarian coordinator, said that the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund has allocated $8 million to meet the urgent needs of the most hard-hit groups in the country.
“Vulnerable families in Lebanon are affected by insufficient access to water, unaffordable basic commodities and limited access to life-saving services, and are taking desperate measures to survive,” he said.
“We need to act now and avoid a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation.”
The allocation will help to support the return to school and protect those most in need, including during winter, the fund’s statement said.
“More than half of the funding will target Lebanese people and the remaining will be destined in favor of migrants, Palestine refugees and Syrian refugees. In line with the LHF’s vision statement to boost the localization agenda in Lebanon, 29 percent of this allocation funding is disbursed to local and national nongovernmental organizations,” it added.
MP Moussa said: “This international aid is essential, but its volume cannot meet all needs. It is supposed to be for the most vulnerable groups; today, the entire Lebanese nation is vulnerable and all the population is in need.”
Citing the death by heart attack of a prisoner in Roumieh prison on Monday, Moussa said: “This is proof of a serious deterioration in the living and health situation in prisons. We must take quick, serious action. Enough neglect and delay.”