Miqati Seeks to Boost Government's Performance, Resolve Pending Issues
Prime Minister Najib Miqati held behind closed doors meetings with several officials to activate the government's performance by resolving issues obstructing its work.
Ministerial sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper that the PM held talks on Thursday evening with AMAL's Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil , Hizbullah's Minister of Administrative Development Mohammed Fneish and Free Patriotic Movement's Energy Minister Jebran Bassil.
The meeting tackled the 2013 state budget and ways to fund the new salaries scale for public employees, which was approved last week.
The cabinet will hold on Monday and Tuesday an open-ended session to wrap up discussions on these two issues.
According to al-Liwaa newspaper, the meeting between Miqati and the ministers on Thursday night was to reactivate the government's performance on thorny issues, in particular, the state budget for 2013 and the new wages scale.
Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi presented the 2013 state budget draft earlier in September to Miqati. It sets spending at $15.26 billion and the deficit at $3.11 billion.
The cabinet recently approved the new salaries scale for public employees, ending a long dispute that had prompted the Syndicate Coordination Committee, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, to hold several sit-ins and strikes.
The government's wages increase will be retroactive from July 1, 2012, but the salary adjustments would be paid in installments over a period of five years.
The state’s treasury will have more than $1.2 billion to cover as there are over 180,000 public sector employees including military personnel.
The government plans to boost the treasury’s revenue to cover the expenses of the salaries boost through several proposals including the implementation of a hike on taxes on land parcels and sea properties.
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