Finance Minister Fouad Siniora said Monday that privatization was only one of a number of reform measures required from Lebanon by international creditors.
Speaking during a news conference he held at the Dubai meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, the minister said that it was incorrect to boil down the “Paris II” conference to privatization only.
“Saying that the Paris II conference called for privatization only is distorting facts,” Siniora said. “Lebanon has pledged before the nations that attended the Paris II conference to rationalize the use of its national resources,” he added. He explained that the desired reforms concerned health and education policies as well as the retirement pension system, working hours and other issues.
He said Lebanon endures the problems of both rich and developing nations: “As far as the economy is concerned, for instance, there are people who work and others who don’t and rely on those who do.”
He added that the way the Lebanese retirement system was implemented put a “significant burden on the workers.”
Siniora said that it was very important to introduce reforms to the way civil service institutions were managed because reforms were “necessary and not superfluous.” He added that such reforms “could not wait.”
“Privatization is just a part of the comprehensive batch of required reforms, which are aimed at slimming down the civil administration,” he said.
He recalled that he had tried to introduce “some crucial reforms” to the 2003 Lebanese national budget. But, “while these reforms were not approved, this does not mean that they are not needed.”
He said that all those he had met from the international monetary bodies had asked him about whether or not privatization had been implemented in this country.
“It is not in Lebanon’s interests to delay the privatization process. We should launch the necessary measures and wait for the right privatization offer to sell. Otherwise we shall
not sell,” he said. He added that up till now, the privatization operation had not been taken seriously.
Siniora also recalled what the IMF and World Bank officials had told him. “They said that we Lebanese had a good reform program, so why is it that we couldn’t implement this program?” He added that Lebanon had submitted to the Paris II organizers an overview of its planned reforms.
He said the government had achieved the objectives it set out to achieve in the 2003 national budget, specifically in the area of national revenue.
“As for the expenditure side, it increased as a result of the LL340 billion paid to Electricite du Liban (EDL). This was different from the LL300 billion which the EDL would borrow from the Central Bank,” he said. Siniora added that there was one objective which had not been fulfilled, specifically in the area of maritime state properties.