Government and central bank evading responsibility for economic catastrophe
The Lebanese National Bloc Party saw that the statement by the Minister of Finance Ali Hassan Khalil about the 38% decrease in the 2019 state revenue (before the revolution of 17 October) is proof that the economic catastrophe in the country did not start with the revolution; it is rather a culmination of all the abuses of power in the last 30 years and especially in the last 3 years.
In its statement, the Bloc said that the current government’s corruption, quota system, and waste of public resources is the cause of the current economic situation.
The Bloc stressed that it categorically refuses the ambiguous statement of Banque du Liban Governor Riad Salame about the revolution’s responsibility for the financial turmoil that happened after October 17. The Bloc stressed that the responsibility of the current economic crisis is shared among the government, the central bank, and the banks that followed a fiscal policy aimed at covering up the budget deficits with astronomical interest rates rather than following policies of decreasing expenditures and combatting waste and corruption.
The Bloc reiterated that the parties in power have for the past 60 days been fighting amongst each other about their shares in the upcoming government instead of holding open meetings with experts to come up with plans to save the country.
In conclusion of its statement, the Bloc affirmed that the economy is collapsing and poverty is increasing while selfish government parties are only concerned with their own factional interests; those parties are the only ones responsible for the current situation and for whatever collapse the Lebanese economy is heading for in the future.