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Lebanon likely to lose 1 bln USD in aid over "parliament paralysis"

Xinhua, August 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lebanon's Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil warned Wednesday that his country could lose more than one billion U.S. dollars in aid due to what he called "parliament paralysis" and the ongoing disputes among the political components of the government.

"Lebanon faces the possibility of losing many aid programs and loans," Khalil told a press conference, adding that "approving the loans at the house would help create development projects in various parts of the country."

He pointed out that 14 loans worth 1.162 billion U.S. dollars need the parliament's approval.

"There are nine aid programs that could be canceled, particularly the ones granted by the World Bank as they are limited for specific time frames and valued at about 53 million U.S. dollars," he added.

Khalil further said that there are grants that need to be endorsed by the cabinet that will refer them to the parliament for approval.

Lebanon has been without a president since the six-year term of President Michel Suleiman ended on May 25, 2014 and the parliament failed to elect a new leader.

According to the constitution the cabinet would take charge of running the country in the absence of the president but all its decisions should be taken by consensus, which is hindered by a long standing political division among the political components. Endit