Budget discussions by the Syrian parliament
Syria, Economics, 1/18/2000

The Syrian People's Assembly (parliament) on Monday held a meeting chaired by its speaker, Abdul Qader Qaddoura and Prime Minister Mahmoud al-Zou'bi and which was attended by the deputy prime ministers for economic and service affairs.

The Parliament members listened to the government's response to a report made by the budget and accounts committee on the state's general budget and the debates made by the parliament members on the budget bill.

The prime minister said that the ground which was adopted by the government in drawing up the state's budget is self-reliance on local resources and not on others, since it represents in the long run political and economic catastrophe.

He continued that despite the state of drought during the 1998- 1999 season, the production level of "our main crops, such as cotton, sugar beets and soybeans was close to the planned level, "we" have produced 2,691,000 tons of grain which cover four local demand.

The Syrian premier went on that the government's policy was and is still aiming at consolidating balance between revenues and expenses, between imports and exports, production and consumption. He added that this requires a continued evaluation and analysis related to the three (private, public and joint) sectors.

In their debates several People's Assembly (PA) members said that the budget increase for the year 1999 is s positive sign, while most of the world's countries are suffering from economic crises.

They called for new amendments to law no. 10 on encouraging investment as well as the modification of a number of laws and the creation of a stock market and foreign exchange market under the supervision of the government's banks.

The PA members also called for accelerating the modernization and development of the banking sector, the establishment of a joint business bank, reconsidering tax flexibility for the public sector establishments and expanding the experience of management.

Previous Stories:
  Oil is behind the delay in the endorsement of the Syrian budget   (11/19/1999)
  Syrian economic development reviewed at 46th Damascus International Fair   (8/30/1999)
  Special: Syria's economic system   (5/22/1999)

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