BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Tammam Salam Monday urged lawmakers to come up with a series of administrative reforms before passing the controversial public sector wage hike to limit possible negative effects on the economy.
“Stemming from our keenness to preserve the right of citizens, discussions in Parliament should focus on creating a balance between revenues and expenditures so that the wage hike will not negatively affect the economy and burden citizens with additional taxes,” Sleiman and Salam said in a joint statement.
“This issue should be accompanied by administrative reforms to end corruption and control spending, which would safeguard the treasury and pave the way for a serious and practical discussion on how to apply the salary scale,” they added.
The statement came after a meeting between Salam and Sleiman at Baabda Palace to discuss the wage hike draft law, a day before Parliament is set to convene to pass the disputed proposal, estimated to cost the treasury some $1.6 billion annually.
The Union Coordination Committee has called for a general strike Tuesday ahead of the Parliament session.
The decision by the UCC, which represents civil servants and teachers in public and private schools, is aimed at exerting pressure on lawmakers to approve the salary scale draft law without slashing the wage hike demanded by the UCC or rolling out the hike in installments.
The Association of Banks in Lebanon and the Economic Committees, a body representing the private sector, have opposed the wage hike, saying it would lead to inflation and burden the country’s economy already reeling as a result of the crisis in Syria.
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