The Lebanese economy is on the way to recovery, Economy Minister Nicolas Nahas said Wednesday. “There is no economic crisis, and we are working to sustain economic growth,” Nahas said in an interview with a local radio station. But Nahas added that approving the 2012 budget was necessary to boost growth. “The draft budget includes, for the first time, extraordinary expenditures that can help to significantly improve economic conditions,” he added. Nahas said he hoped ministers would not introduce adjustments to the taxes proposed in the draft.
The revised 2012 draft budget announced by Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi last month includes a new 15-percent tax on profits made through real-estate transactions and a 2-percent hike on both VAT and interest-revenue taxes.
Nahas also said the government would continue working on increasing income and cutting down squandering and expenditures. When asked whether the government still intended to lease power generating barges, Nahas said the issue is being finalized. “We have reached a final agreement and the barges will arrive within a few months,” he said.
