BEIRUT, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's fiscal deficit dropped by 600 million U.S. dollars or 27.89 percent in the first four months of 2019, a statement by the Finance Ministry reported on Friday.
The drop in fiscal deficit was due to a drop in expenditures by 15.45 percent while revenues went down by 9.2 percent.
Nassib Ghobril, head of the economic research department at Byblos Bank, told Xinhua, that expenditures have dropped because the finance minister limited the spending by ministries to employees' salaries and other basic needs.
Meanwhile, revenues have dropped as well due to a decrease in customs, Value Added Tax, and telecom revenues by 6.3 percent, 14 percent and 16.7 percent respectively.
Ghobril noted that the decrease in deficit for the first four months of 2019 is good news and deficit is expected to go down further by the end of this year.
The Lebanese parliament is expected to vote on the 2019 state budget on Friday with promises to cut the overall budget deficit from 11.4 percent to 7.59 percent.
Endorsing a state budget that slashes the deficit is among the measures the Lebanese government has pledged to take as part of the key financial and economic reforms recommended at CEDRE conference.
