In its session discussing the country’s budget for 2022, on Friday, September 16th, the Lebanese Parliament agreed to triple the salaries of public sector employees, including soldiers, retirees, and contractors, as part of social assistance.
The number of public sector employees in Lebanon is around 300,000, distributed as follows:
- 120 000 in the military and security apparatuses.
- 40 000 in the education sector.
- 25 000 in ministries and public administrations.
- 115 000 in public institutions and municipalities.
- 70 000 as retirees.
This means that the Central Bank of Lebanon will print more Lebanese Liras to cover the new expenses, causing the block size of the local currency to increase while its demand is already declining in comparison to other foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar.
The Legal Agenda, a research and advocacy organization, argues that the decision to triple the salaries in the public sector without clarifying sufficient imports is a constitutional violation since the parliament can not increase expenditure on the budget.
Earlier today the Lebanese Parliament tried to vote on the country’s budget for the year 2022 after a delay of 9 months, but the session lost the quorum and the budget did not pass.
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