The Lebanese parliament approved the 2022 budget on Monday, using an exchange rate for customs revenue well below the market value of the Lebanese pound, not up to par with economic reforms that would pave the way for a deal with the International Monetary Fund. .
The deal with the bank is seen as a crucial first step for Lebanon to begin emerging from a three-year financial meltdown that has plunged most people into poverty and plunged the country into the worst crisis since the 1975 civil war. -90.
An expert-level agreement in April between the Lebanese government and the IMF called on authorities to increase revenues to finance the paralyzed public sector and allow for greater social spending by calculating customs taxes at a “single exchange rate”.
But parliament passed a budget that calculates customs tax revenue at £ 15,000 per dollar.
On Friday, the market price stood at around £ 37,000 per dollar.
Officials see the approval of a higher exchange rate for imports as an unpopular move in their constituencies in the heavily import-dependent country.
The budget, which was approved just three months before the end of this year, puts government spending at $ 41 trillion, or $ 1.1 billion at Monday’s market price, and revenue at $ 30 trillion.
The salaries of all public sector employees have tripled, including the military and security forces, and many now earn less than $ 50 due to the lira’s depreciation of more than 95 percent since 2019.
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