The Finance and Budget Committee held a session chaired by Deputy Ibrahim Kanaan, during which they initially listened to the Ministers of Culture, Social Affairs, and Information, as well as the Director General of Agriculture. They received some of their remarks on the allocations provided to them in the budget and requested the Ministry of Social Affairs to detail contributions to non-profit associations. By the end of the discussion, the committee completed the budgets for the Ministries of Social Affairs, Agriculture, Culture, and Information after approving several recommendations and amendments.
Among the approved decisions and recommendations:
1. Support for the National Commission for UNESCO as well as the Conservatory for their operational expenses to prevent them from completely halting their work, as they represent a cultural and national heritage for Lebanon.
2. The committee requested the Ministry of Social Affairs to detail contributions to non-profit associations.
3. The committee recommended supporting agriculture, particularly allocations related to agricultural pesticides, the Green Project, and cooperatives.
Kanaan stated after the session: "We are determined to finish discussing the budget before the end of the constitutional deadline at the end of January, and I expect that if the concerned deputies and ministers adhere to the specified session dates, we will finish in the first week of January."
Kanaan emphasized that "the amendments we worked on included 123 legal articles, the vast majority of which pertained to taxes, fees, and fines, which the government submitted in a single budget. Deciding on it, as well as the budget as a whole, is a collective parliamentary responsibility that should not be wasted to avoid the citizen suffering catastrophic consequences if it is issued by a government decree due to the council's failure to fulfill its duties." The committee will resume its meetings next week, where daily sessions are expected to be held before and after noon.
