Date: Feb 21, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Lebanon: Date set for Paris IV as MPs call for economic reform Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star BEIRUT: The date for the much-anticipated Paris IV donor conference to garner international support to shore up Lebanon’s ailing economy and infrastructure has been set for April 6, a source close to Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Tuesday. Setting a final date for Paris IV, also known as the Cedar Conference, comes amid growing calls on the Lebanese government to carry out long-awaited economic reforms and endorse the 2018 draft state budget – both deemed essential ahead of three international donor conferences to be held in the coming months. The conferences aim at securing further financial support for Lebanon as it struggles with the heavy burden posed by an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees, whose presence is draining the country’s struggling economy and frail infrastructure. Ahead of Paris IV, the Rome II conference to enlist support for the Lebanese Army and security forces is set for March 15 in Italy. A third international conference, set to be held in Brussels later in the spring, will focus on support for Syrian refugees in the region. Hariri will sponsor a conference on investment in infrastructure on March 6 ahead of the Paris IV conference, according to a statement issued by the organizers at a news conference Tuesday. “Representatives of private local, regional and international companies, including those from the United States, Europe and China, and also local and international financial institutions, will be invited to attend the conference to invest in Lebanon’s infrastructure,” a source close to Hariri told The Daily Star Tuesday. The source said Lebanon expects investments of up to $5 billion in power generation, roads and airport projects under the public-private partnership law. “This is all part of Lebanon’s capital investment plan,” the source added.As part of preparations for the three international conferences, Hariri will visit Arab Gulf countries soon to rally their support for Lebanon, Nadim Munla, the prime minister’s adviser for refugee affairs, told the Central News Agency. Munla said that Pierre Duquesne, the French delegate for the Mediterranean in charge of preparations for the Paris IV conference, who is currently in Beirut, has told Lebanese officials that he visited four Gulf states to sound out their readiness to participate in the three conferences. According to the French delegate, two Gulf states have voiced support for the conferences and the other two promised to check and provide a response soon. The International Monetary Fund has urged Lebanon to implement reforms ahead of the Paris IV conference. In its staff report last week, the IMF warned that Lebanon’s economic situation was still fragile as a result of slow GDP growth and rising public debt. Lebanon’s economy is encumbered by soaring public debt estimated at over $80 billion, or 155 percent of GDP. MP Walid Jumblatt called for economic reforms but sounded skeptical about the Paris IV conference. “In order to reach the bank of growth, job opportunities, stopping waste [of public funds] and reining in the [budget] deficit, we must cross the bridge of reforms,” Jumblatt said in a series of tweets. Referring to Lebanon’s potential oil and gas reserves, he said: “Neither gas will protect us, nor Paris IV will save us.” Two leading parliamentary blocs, the Future Movement and the Free Patriotic Movement, called separately Tuesday for the endorsement of the 2018 budget and implementation of economic and financial reforms ahead of the donor conferences. The Future Movement’s parliamentary bloc praised the government’s resolve to endorse the 2018 budget. “The [budget’s endorsement] will restore financial order to the Lebanese state and ensure financial control in a way that will improve the economic growth rate and help in reducing the budget deficit,” a statement issued after the bloc’s weekly meeting, chaired by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, said. It added that the passing of the budget would also reflect “Lebanon’s seriousness about adopting economic and financial reforms with the great positive impact this entails on bolstering its financial stability.” “This will enable Lebanon to gain the aid and support it needs from brotherly and friendly states and Arab and international institutions to boost its economic growth and the stability and safety of its financial and monetary situation,” the statement said. The FPM’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc also stressed the need for economic reforms to be contained in the 2018 budget. Speaking to reporters after the bloc’s meeting chaired by FPM leader and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Energy and Water Minister Cesar Abi Khalil reaffirmed the bloc’s position declared by Bassil during Monday’s Cabinet session. Bassil called for adherence to five topics in the 2018 budget. These include the reduction of bank interest rates in order to cut the cost of public debt; that all ministries should commit to slashing spending by 20 percent; the cancellation of state contributions to fictitious charities with the aim of cutting the squandering of public funds; the implementation of reforms agreed upon in the salary scale law; and finding a solution to the electricity problem. Bassil was reported to have said that the bloc’s ministers would not attend Cabinet sessions on the 2018 budget unless there was political consensus beforehand on these points. Meanwhile, Bassil held a long meeting with Hariri that lasted until midnight Monday in the first round of talks focusing on a possible electoral coalition between the Future Movement and the FPM in the upcoming elections. No details emerged from the meeting, which was held at Hariri’s Downtown Beirut residence. A source close to Hariri said the prime minister and the FPM leader explored the possibility of contesting the polls on joint tickets in some districts while competing in others. “Hariri and Bassil have agreed to hold further meetings in an attempt to agree on an electoral alliance,” the source told The Daily Star. – Additional reporting by Joseph Haboush