The Council of Ministers ratified the 2026 draft budget law (with minor adjustments) during its session on Monday with the Minister of Information, Mr. Paul Morcos, commenting that the 2026 draft budget law focuses on enhancing tax compliance rather than adding new taxes or increasing existing ones. Mr. Morcos added that since the budget aims at securing the proper financing for all expenditures to reach a balanced budget, it does not at present include any adjustments to public sector salaries due to the lack of funding. However, and once the appropriate revenue sources are secured, the government will work on adjusting public sector salaries accordingly. Mr. Morcos also commented that the government has amended article 31 related to the 3% import charge whereby it will be applied on import transactions for companies that did not adhere to income tax and VAT declarations over the last three years rather than on all companies as per the initial draft law, with the amount considered as an advance on the importer’s income tax.

The 2026 draft budget law that was submitted to the government targets a balance budget with government revenues and expenditures projected at LBP 505.72 trillion (around $5.65 billion) each.