Berri praises budget and calls for concrete measures

Speaker Nabih Berri praised the government during the speech he gave at the inauguration of the general assembly of the Islamic Mission Boy Scout Association in Mseileh, yesterday. He affirmed that the government had successfully passed through its toughest phase, by agreeing on a 1998 budget. Its democratic performance, as he declared, had given it a positive image among the people.

Berri also offered some advice to rectify the present situation: supervision over markets to weaken monopolies, observation of all governmental bodies, reduction of tax evasion, importing basic commodities, and permitting the non-governmental organizations to participate in monitoring prices. He also recommended giving more attention to agriculture, increasing workers' productivity, protecting the unemployed and encouraging private banks to guarantee small investments.

Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who is supposed to visit Damascus today on his way back from Paris, considered Berri's speech as a clear endorsement of the 1998 budget project.

The parliament's finance and budget committee will examine the draft of the 1998 budget, upon which the government had agreed last Friday. This will be the first time the legislature has received the fiscal budget before the constitutional deadline since the beginning of the Lebanese war.