Hariri and Berri agree on austerity measures

Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri agreed on long-term austerity measures during their second meeting, yesterday night in Ein-El-Tineh. The budget, the administration and the new public wage scale project were discussed.

Hariri said he will discuss these plans with president Elias Hrawi before they are submitted to the cabinet and then the budget and finance parliamentary committee. Ministers Fuad Sagnura and Yassin Jaber and MPs Khalil Hrawi, Mohamed Youssef Beidoun and Anwar Khalil participated in the meeting. After the meeting, Hariri characterized the talks as frank and positive and that several suggestions that would not burden the citizens were made. He refused, however, to give specific details.

Hours before the meeting, speaker Berri had told visitors in Ein-El-Tineh that what should be agreed upon is a plan for the next term, based on austerity and the unification of several ministries doing similar jobs.