Beirut: Lebanon’s constitutional council decided on Friday to annul a tax law that was passed by parliament to finance public sector pay rises.
A statement explaining the decision cited reasons including the fact the law had been passed “in the absence of the budget and outside it”. The council unanimously decided to refer the law back to parliament.
“It should have come in the framework of the annual budget according to the principles stipulated in the constitution,” the statement said.
President Michel Aoun signed off on both the public sector pay rise and the tax hikes last month.
The finance minister has said the salary scale would cost an estimated 1.38 trillion Lebanese pounds (Dh3.3 billion), while the tax hikes would bring in revenue of 1.65 trillion pounds.
