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Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s cabinet Thursday approved the 2022 draft budget at a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Baabda. The budget still has to be discussed and then voted on in Parliament.

Mikati announced that the estimated budget deficit dropped from LL10.26 trillion to LL8 trillion. He also said that excluding the LL7 trillion set as reserve, the budget would be balanced.

Mikati also confirmed that the Sayrafa rate will be used for the customs dollar, and every month the finance minister will announce the rate. He said that the increase in prices after the implementation of the new rate will not exceed 3 to 5 percent, and customs taxes on medication and food, as well as coffee and tea, will be removed.

Mikati also said that discussions around electricity, telecoms and garbage collection will take place in future meetings outside of the budget.

During the session, the cabinet decided on the limits for the monthly assistance given to public sector employees, setting them between LL2 million and LL6 million, and the monthly assistance for retired employees, which it set between LL750,000 and LL6 million. In the early text of the budget proposal, the time period for such assistance was set between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31.

An article in the original 2022 budget draft noted that Electricité du Liban would get an advance payment of LL5.25 trillion to buy fuel. Energy Minister Walid Fayad was asked to justify the advance payment, before it was decided to separate the electricity and budget plans.

At the beginning of March, the budget draft leaked. This draft removes some controversial provisions. The changes to the new draft include the removal of proposed additional powers granted to the finance minister to calculate taxes and set the exchange rate. The latest draft renders these powers a privilege of the cabinet only. Another change made to the budget was the size of the deficit, now estimated at LL8.21 trillion, 10 percent smaller than the figure in the initial draft in January. Additionally, language that specifically differentiates between fresh-dollar accounts and ‘lollar’ — dollars deposited in Lebanese bank accounts and accessible at an exchange rate of LL8,000 — accounts was removed, with an exemption for one item on interest on fresh accounts. Other changes include a proposal to buy back all unused prepaid mobile phone service cards, increasing work permit fees and changing the currency of the exit fee on air travel from lira to US dollars.