The Lebanese state draft budget for 2019 will have a deficit below 9% of gross d...
FILE PHOTO: Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil talks during a news conference at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon November 6, 2017. REUTERS/Aziz Taher
BEIRUT - The Lebanese state draft budget for 2019 will have a deficit below 9% of gross domestic product and it may be less than 8.5% of GDP, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said on Saturday, according to broadcaster LBC.Lebanon has one of the heaviest public debt burdens in the world at around 150% of GDP.
Khalil, writing on his Twitter feed, said the draft budget includes a saving of around 1 trillion Lebanese pounds in debt servicing costs, without giving further details. “The debate on the budget must end tomorrow so that we end the atmosphere of anarchy and rumors,” Khalil said, an apparent reference to conflicting statements and reports about proposed cuts in the budget that have fueled protest and strikes.
Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said earlier this month that Lebanon was far from bankruptcy but failure to pass a “realistic” budget that brings down the deficit would be tantamount to a “suicide operation” against the economy.
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