Prime Minister Najib Mikati chaired Saturday morning a cabinet session at the Government Serail devoted to continuing the study of the draft budget law for the year 2022, whereby discussions will be completed in a session to be held at 9:00 a.m. upcoming Monday.

Following the session, Acting Minister of Information, Education Minister Abbas al-Halabi, said the cabinet resumed its open session this morning to discuss the draft budget law, chaired by Prime Minister Najib Mikati and in presence of various cabinet ministers, the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, the Director-General of the Republican Palace, the Director-General of the Ministry of Finance and the Director of Revenues.

Al-Halabi indicated that after thorough deliberation, “Article 13” of the draft budget bearing on a monetary advance to the “Electricité du Liban” Company was suspended for further study, whereby the cabinet asked the Energy Minister to provide justifications for the loan request within the electricity plan, after distributing this plan to the ministers for discussion.

He added that the discussion of “Article 15” of the draft budget law was also suspended at the request of the Social Affairs Minister, pending a proposal he is to submit later on, while other articles were finalized.

“The cabinet added some articles that would increase the state’s financial resources without constituting, if approved, a burden on citizens,” al-Halabi noted, stating that the Council of Ministers will resume its meetings on Monday, starting 9:00 a.m. until the afternoon, as well as upcoming Wednesday morning.

Source: National News Agency