Lebanon's Budget Saga Closer to Resolution as Austerity Gets Nod - Bloomberg

Lebanon's Budget Saga Closer to Resolution as Austerity Gets Nod - Bloomberg:

Lebanon’s government approved its 2019 draft budget after months of delays, the latest effort to get the nation’s fiscal house in order despite public anger over cutbacks.

The proposals must now be passed by parliament, where lawmakers might fiercely resist footing the bill for decades of mismanagement of government finances. The budget sets a deficit target of 7.6% of gross domestic product for 2019, down from the current 11.4%, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said in televised remarks on Monday.

“We can maintain this number and we can improve it,” Khalil said. “We are serious in this, and it will be translated through an injection of new investment projects that will revive the economy.”