Economic Committees to Meet Sunday to Reverse Economy Slowdown

Head of the Economic Committees Adnan Kassar announced on Friday that the committees will hold a meeting in the presence of several ministers to discuss some solutions that would steer the country's economic problems after media reports said the cabinet reached a settlement concerning the new wage scale for public employees.

Kassar said after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail that the meeting will be held on Sunday, stressing that “it's not acceptable to tamper with the country's economy during this delicate situation.”

The meeting will be held in presence of Economy Minister Nicolas Nahhas and State Minister Marwan Kheir eddine.

The Economic Committees, a grouping of the country's businessmen and owners of major firms, had continuously reiterated that they would reject any decision taken by cabinet on the new wage scale, warning that the government's decision to boost the salaries of public employees would "inflict major losses on the public and private sectors."

Earlier As Safir newspaper reported that the cabinet reached a settlement to resolve the ongoing dispute with the Syndicate Coordination Committee over the new salary scale.

A ministerial source told the daily that the cabinet will propose a solution during its session on Monday that would be approved by the international funds, the Central Bank and the Economic Committees.

But the SCC, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, had announced earlier that it will stage yet another strike on Monday to protest the cabinet's procrastination concerning the matter.

It had warned of an open-ended strike if the cabinet failed to refer the new salary scale to the parliament ahead of the beginning of the year 2013.

The government has been discussing the sources to fund the new scale, deepening the gap with the SCC, which is accusing the government of negligence over its failure to meet its demands.

However, the cabinet argues that it's delaying the issue to thoroughly discuss plans to boost the treasury's revenue to cover the expenses of the salaries boost.

The state treasury will have more than $1.2 billion to cover as there are over 180,000 public sector employees including military personnel.

Earlier this year, the cabinet approved the new salaries scale for public employees.

The wages increase will be retroactive from July 1, 2012.