FILE PHOTO: Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri speaks during a news conference in Beirut, Lebanon, November 13, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
July 19, 2019
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s parliament passed the 2019 state budget on Friday, Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said in a live broadcast as his coalition government seeks to bring the public debt under control.
The budget is seen as a critical test of Lebanon’s ability to address years of economic mismanagement and corruption that have led it to build up one of the world’s heaviest public debt burdens, equivalent to about 150% of GDP.
(Reporting by Angus McDowall and Laila Bassam; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
