Maryam Harb – Mtv
The series of ranks and salaries that were approved in 2017 was called the major sin that led to the economic and financial collapse. Finance Minister Yassine Jaber’s sentence, “You want a new series of ranks and salaries,” which MPs shouted at during the 2026 budget discussion session, brought back the repercussions of the 2017 series, the disastrous results of which the Lebanese are still living.
As the end of February approaches, which Jaber requested, to conduct a financial study on the financial cost of covering what public sector employees and retirees are demanding, will the House of Representatives approve a new series?
In 2017, the government announced that the ranks and salaries chain would cost $860 million, but it cost the treasury twice that amount. Economist Patrick Mardini confirmed, in an interview with MTV, that “the chain placed great burdens on the state, which claimed that it was able to finance the chain by imposing more taxes.” It is noteworthy that economists had previously warned that day that increasing taxes would not cover the cost of the chain because it would reduce tax revenues, pointing out that “tax rates rose but tax revenues decreased, and what happened in practice was that revenues were inflated and expenses were minimized to make people believe that the government was capable of financing the chain.”
Mardini adds: “The negative repercussions of the series affected primarily those with limited income and the public sector, as the state used depositors’ funds to cover it, and after the economic collapse, the series was financed by the collapse of the exchange rate.” He believes that “the authorities at that time sold people populist rhetoric and auctions to win votes before the 2018 elections, and this is the same behavior that they are trying to repeat today, knowing that approving the series today will have worse repercussions than in 2017.”
The government sent the 2026 budget, with revenues equaling expenditures with a reserve of about $329 million. However, the House of Representatives zeroed the reserve. Mardini points out that “the House of Representatives zeroed out the reserves instead of leaving these funds or using them, for example, to return depositors’ money or pay a portion of the required wages to the public sector.” He said: “If they were interested in giving the public sector its due, they would have paid a portion of this money through the reserve.”
What is the solution then to give the public sector and retirees their rights? Mardini answers: “The state today cannot extend its hand to depositors’ money, and these “nonsense” that previous governments used cannot be repeated, nor is it possible to borrow from global financial markets, and the only solution to secure funds is by restructuring the sector and laying off all employees, and this is the most important reform required from Nawaf Salam’s government,” explaining that “the savings that result from the layoff of all employees who are not productive are financed with the salaries of productive employees who deserve a raise.” And retirees.”
