Date: Sep 24, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Macron reaffirms French support for Lebanon after talks with Aoun Government to deliberate key reform measures Joseph Haboush| The Daily Star NEW YORK: French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his country’s commitment to supporting Lebanon on Monday, telling President Michel Aoun that he would visit Beirut in the upcoming year.  The two met in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.  “Talks focused on the bilateral relations between Lebanon and France, the CEDRE donor conference, reforms, the [Lebanese] state’s measures to combat corruption and the Syrian refugee crisis,” a statement from Aoun’s office said.  Aoun thanked the French president for his support to Lebanon, noting the importance of strengthening coordination and cooperation between the two countries to “accelerate” improving the Lebanese economy.  For his part, Macron renewed French support for Lebanon and the need to speed up work on CEDRE projects. Government to deliberate key reform measures Hussein Dakroub & Joseph Haboush| The Daily Star BEIRUT/NEW YORK: The Cabinet agreed Monday to form an eight-member ministerial committee headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri to ponder “essential” reform measures that would go alongside the draft 2020 state budget. The announcement was made by Information Minister Jamal Jarrah following a special Cabinet session chaired by Hariri dedicated to examining the 2020 budget. “We discussed budget articles and there was major progress. Practically, all articles were finished except some, which were postponed for further discussion,” Jarrah told reporters after the meeting held at the Grand Serail. Noting that there would be measures and reforms to go in tandem with the 2020 budget, Jarrah said the ministerial committee had been formed to discuss “all essential measures and reforms that should accompany the budget.” He added that the proposed reform measures might not necessarily be within the 2020 budget but they could be approved through decrees to be referred to Parliament. In reply to a question, Jarrah said the reform measures would “not necessarily” include imposing new taxes or dues. He added that discussion of the budget article pertaining to Beirut Port was postponed “in order to deal with it in an appropriate manner.” The ministerial committee was formed at Hariri’s proposal to “study short- medium- and long-term financial and economic reforms and it would present its recommendations to the Cabinet within two months, Jarrah said. He added that the next Cabinet meeting would be held Wednesday afternoon at the Grand Serail. Monday’s was the second of intensive Cabinet meetings designed to examine and approve the 2020 budget before sending it to Parliament next month for final ratification. During its meeting last Wednesday, the Cabinet approved 14 out of 32 articles in the draft budget. The prime minister has said that the 2020 budget would not contain any new taxes and was part of a three-year plan to stimulate the stagnant economy. Last week, Hariri said that ministers would finalize the discussions by the October deadline stipulated by the Constitution. According to the Constitution, Cabinet should refer the budget to Parliament at the start of the latter’s fall session, which begins in mid-October. Hariri also declared that the government planned to reduce the deficit to 7.6 percent of gross domestic product, down from more than 11 percent in 2018. Before and after the Cabinet session, Hariri chaired two meetings of a ministerial committee tasked with studying the ailing electricity sector. The committee followed up on discussion of tender documents to award contracts for the building of two power generating plants designed to improve electricity supply and reduce endemic power rationing. Lebanon is under international pressure to enact a series of structural fiscal reforms, including a reduction of its deficit-to-GDP ratio, in order to unlock $11 billion in grants and soft loans pledged by the international community at last year’s CEDRE conference. In an attempt to reduce budget deficit, estimated at $5 billion annually, and soaring public debt of over $85 billion, the government has promised to fight corruption in the public administration, put an end to the waste of public funds and slash deficit in the state-run Electricite du Liban, which is costing around $2 billion in annual subsidies. Meanwhile, President Michel Aoun is set to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron later Monday night on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Minister of State for Presidency Affairs Salim Jreissati told reporters that the meeting was likely to take place at 6 p.m New York time [1 a.m. Tuesday Beirut time]. The meeting between Aoun and Macron comes a few days after Hariri held talks with the French president focusing on the launch of CEDRE projects, worth billions of dollars pledged by international donors to boost Lebanon’s flagging economy. Speaking to reporters before and after their talks at the Elysee Palace last Friday, Macron said France was “fully committed” to implementing the CEDRE conference’s decisions, while Hariri promised to expedite a string of structural and economic and fiscal reforms designed to reduce the budget deficit, fight corruption and curb the waste of public funds, a major demand of international donors. Aoun, currently in New York to represent Lebanon at the General Assembly session set to be opened Tuesday, met Monday with a delegation from the American Task Force for Lebanon. The meeting discussed the CEDRE projects and the need for transparency, ATFL President Ed Gabriel said. “President Aoun relayed the message that Lebanon needs to be transparent and carry out reforms in order for the country to benefit from CEDRE,” Gabriel told The Daily Star. Aoun, Gabriel said, was adamant that if proper reforms were not carried out, Lebanon would only increase the debt that is already drowning the country. During his meeting with the ATFL, Aoun also asked the organization to follow up with the new U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, David Schenker, regarding the border dispute with Israel. Schenker was recently in Beirut, but Aoun told the ATFL that Schenker did not make it clear to Lebanese officials whether or not he would revive U.S. diplomacy in helping reach a solution. But Aoun did make it clear that he is “his own man,” according to a source present in the meeting. During a Q&A session with ATFL members, Aoun highlighted the reform measures to be taken by the Lebanese government to achieve an economic growth which was less than 1 percent this year. He said Lebanon’s new economic plan aims to transform the country’s welfare economy into a productive one and encourage investment, according to a statement released by the president’s media office. Aoun cited laws to fight corruption, boost transparency and monitor sources of waste in the public sector and the most vital sectors, as part of measures taken by the government to improve the weak economy. Aoun, who is heading the Lebanese delegation to the 74th session of the General Assembly, is set to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Wednesday morning before delivering Lebanon’s speech.