Berri reportedly upset with Mikati over government debt law

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is upset by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati's attempt to evade passing a law that would allow the government to borrow foreign currency from the central bank, al-Akhbar newspaper said Wednesday.

First central bank vice-governor Wassim Mansouri, who took over as BDL's acting governor on Tuesday, urged parliament and the government to cooperate in order to legalize spending during a transitional period before the central bank stops funding the state completely.

In a cabinet session Tuesday, Mikati said he had distributed Monday the indebtedness draft law to the ministers. He said that draft laws must be distributed at least one week before being discussed in cabinet.

According to the daily, Berri told his visitors that Mikati has passed to parliament the buck for proposing the law. "Parliament will not renounce its responsibilities but will not accept to take cabinet's role," Berri said.

He added that parliament is not against passing the law after cabinet prepares, discusses and refers it to parliament for approval. "Cabinet must pass it first," Berri stressed. "Otherwise, how can parliament guarantee that the government will pay back its loan," he asked. "The government is borrowing the money, and the government must guarantee to pay it back."

Mansouri had said that the central bank would only lend the government on condition that a law allowing it be passed and that government pay back the loans through a realistic plan.

Berri reportedly described the government's position as "a first negative sign" in its dealings with Mansouri on his first day as BDL's acting governor.

Al-Akhbar added that in addition to Berri, Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement would not endorse that parliament proposes the indebtedness law.

"Hezbollah is wary of the law and the FPM would not attend a parliamentary session that would pass it," al-Akhbar reported. It added that the FPM would only approve the indebtedness law when reform laws -- the capital control, the bank restructuring, the state budget and the financial regulation -- are passed.