The Ministry of Finance responded to what it described as “rumors and false news” circulating through some media outlets and social media platforms, which spoke of the presence of about 47,000 deceased public employees who are still receiving salaries and wages at a cost exceeding 140 billion liras per month.
In an official statement, the Ministry confirmed that this information lacks any clear or reliable source, expressing its hope that the parties that circulated these numbers would provide them with the sources on which they were based.
The Ministry clarified that talk about the families of deceased retirees benefiting from retirement pensions does not mean that there are violations, noting that these pensions are disbursed in accordance with binding and specific legal provisions, and that the number of beneficiaries from them amounts to 27,983 people.
As for the number of employees actually working, the Ministry confirmed that the number of non-military civilian administrative employees subject to its direct financial control and who receive salaries, compensation, or monthly wages does not exceed 36,650 employees, contractors, and wage earners, including members of the educational staff.
The statement stressed that the process of disbursing salaries goes through multiple administrative and supervisory stages before the liquidation documents reach the Ministry of Finance, starting with the heads of departments, departments, directorates, general directors, and relevant ministers, all the way to the relevant oversight bodies.
The Ministry confirmed that its doors are open to all oversight bodies to verify the validity of these allegations, declaring its readiness to place its electronic systems at the disposal of the competent oversight authorities.
It also called on those who spread rumors and those who spread them to reveal their sources or provide the Ministry with any information available to them, stressing its readiness to receive any data while ensuring the confidentiality of the identity of those who provide it.
At the conclusion of its statement, the Ministry of Finance announced that it reserves the right to file a claim before the competent judicial authorities, in order to conduct a complete and expanded investigation that begins with revealing the spreaders of these rumors and the sources of the information circulating, leading to determining the truth and taking the necessary legal measures against the violators, whether the information is proven to be true or not.
This debate comes in light of the escalation of public debate in Lebanon about the issues of waste, transparency, and administrative reform, especially in light of the financial and economic crisis that prompted public opinion to scrutinize more the file of salaries, public spending, and oversight mechanisms within state institutions.
