The head of the Finance and Budget Committee, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, wrote on his account on the platform "X": "When we began in the Finance and Budget Committee our journey to 'dissect' the government's disastrous 2024 budget project, we were faced, as usual, with three types of criticisms and skepticism: the first is absurd and surrendering, seeing no positivity in any work; the second is indifferent, following the moment of events without initiating action; and the third is colluding with the authority and obstructing any oversight we undertake with prior intent and design.
This all occurs amidst a presidential vacuum, governmental chaos, and a paralyzed parliamentary council that largely refuses to legislate. However, today, despite all the negative repercussions we face from the aforementioned factors and others, the discussions and warnings from the Finance and Budget Committee have led to structural amendments, the most important of which are:
1. Refusal to legislate the chaos of spending outside the budget allocations or exceptional appropriations (such as spending $1.125 billion from special drawing rights from a special account at the Central Bank).
2. Refusal to borrow without a ceiling and without returning to the parliamentary council.
3. Refusal of discretionary powers for loans supported by the Central Bank (from depositors' funds, given to the privileged and influential).
4. Reservation on the tax separation that contravenes the constitution, which is only concerned with increasing revenues, even if merely on paper and without any economic vision or social justice.
5. Refusal to introduce new taxes in the budget and amending brackets while striving for a unified criterion to determine the exchange rate without exceptions.
6. Abolishing several measures that burden citizens, affecting their salaries and wages as well as private companies and institutions, leading to the flight of what remains of investments and capital from Lebanon.
The discussions and decisions of the Finance and Budget Committee have created a necessary pressure on all sectors—union, economic, social, political, and media—yet they are still insufficient to solidify the corrective movement in the state budget in the parliamentary council (a responsibility for all blocs and independent MPs). This reformative oversight movement is almost the only beneficial action during a period of political production scarcity at all levels.
Kanaan concluded by saying: 'So, see you next Monday with another session of the Finance and Budget Committee to continue the challenge and work on reforming what we can instead of submitting to the deficiency and reality and opening the door for the government to issue the budget law by decree and without amendments, along with all that it will contain of disasters, flaws, and burdens on the citizen.'"
