Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil warned Monday that Lebanon would lose $1.2 billion if Parliament does not hold a legislative session soon.
“We should put the Parliament back to work, and we in the Finance Ministry are especially aware of the harm that comes from the absence of legislation,” Khalil said during a ceremony to mark the opening of a new EU-funded auditorium at the tax administration building in Beirut.
“We are at risk of losing $600 million in projects approved by the World Bank that require the Parliament’s approval,” he added. “If the Parliament does not convene, we will lose $1.2 billion that Lebanon needs to fund many projects.”
Khalil said when he took office, he thought that the deadlock at the legislative body was “temporary,” and that it would cease in a few months.
“The political situation in the country has imposed itself on us, and it is a reality that we reject,” he said. “We want the election of a new president and the formation of a new Cabinet that could fulfill its duties in the presence of a head of state.”
However, he emphasized the importance of taking legislative action to avoid the financial damage.
Christian parties have been boycotting legislative sessions since November, arguing that the country’s political institutions should not operate as if there was a president.
The Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement have agreed that they would keep boycotting sessions unless the top items on the legislative agenda were an electoral law draft and the expatriates naturalization bill.
Lebanon has been without president since May 25, 2014, when former President Michel Sleiman left office at the end of his term.
Khalil dedicated his speech Monday to announcing new reforms his ministry would launch to reduce waste and enhance efficiency.
EU Ambassador to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst sponsored the event.
The reforms include the digitalization of many bureaucratic producedures and creating a new system to help citizens report corruption at the administrations. A new call center will also be launched for this purpose.
The measures also aim at reducing citizen-employee interaction to decrease the possibility of bribes and favoritism.
