The Parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee, chaired by MP Ibrahim Kanaan and attended by Finance Minister in the caretaker government Yusuf Khalil, concluded its meeting during which it continued the study of the 2024 budget proposal. Following the meeting, Kanaan stated: "We have completed a number of articles related to amendments on financial stamp duties after the income tax articles, and we have started discussing the articles related to amending fines. I expect we will finish the legal articles by next Monday so we can move on to the budget figures."
He added, "Just one word for everyone: 'Words are free.' However, what is beneficial is what we are doing in the Finance Committee to prevent the issuance of this disastrous budget by decree in case the Parliament fails to discuss, amend, or reject it." Kanaan pointed out, "We suspended articles that increase fines by 40 times annually without considering a standard, type, or size of the violation, in addition to articles increasing traffic law fines by 10 times and increases on financial stamp duties ranging from 35 to 127 times."
He noted that "the MPs and participants in the meeting objected to the disregard for a unit of measurement, and importantly, the deteriorating economic and social conditions that the Lebanese citizen should not bear the responsibility for." Kanaan concluded: "What we did today by suspending and amending articles imposing random increases through fees and fines in a collapsing economic and financial situation is the greatest evidence of the exceptional work of the Finance Committee with its members and participants in its sessions in confronting this project, rather than just rejecting it in the media."
