Beyond the “Muddle-Through” Option

by Lamia Moubayed Bissat, Sabine Hatem & Iskandar Boustany February 5, 2024

written by Lamia Moubayed Bissat, Sabine Hatem & Iskandar Boustany February 5, 2024

Feel free to use this image, just link to www.SeniorLiving.Org This microstock required lots of post processing to get the blue tint. I also needed a bounce card to get more detail in the glasses.

Lebanon stands today at the crossroads of a more strenuous and challenging muddle-through phase on one hand, and progressive recovery on the other. The road it will end up taking will ultimately depend on a series of sound and rational decisions, chief among which is the reform of the country’s taxation system. A new tax deal could ensure the country greater fiscal stability, allow for the funding of social programs, and rebuild trust between citizens and the government. These policy objectives are fundamental if the country is to exit one of the worst financial crises of modern times and alleviate the despair of a sizable part of its population that has been plunged into poverty. Inevitably, such a system needs to reconcile growth with equity, particularly given the extensive financial damage that has been wrought upon individuals and households. In the report “How can a new tax system restore growth

Lamia Moubayed Bissat

Lamia Moubayed Bissat is president of the Institut des Finances Basil Fuleihan at the Ministry of Finance. She is a member of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration.

Sabine Hatem

An economist and Secretary General of GIFT-MENA, the network of civil service training schools in the MENA region, Sabine Hatem focuses on fostering cooperation and capacity development for State modernization and reform across the MENA, Euromed, and Arab regions. With expertise in designing and executing technical cooperation projects, she has established and managed institutional ties with organizations like the World Bank, OECD, and UNDP, contributing to resource mobilization efforts. A graduate of Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut with a Master’s in Economics,She is also a co-author of numerous research papers and a speaker at international conferences.

Iskandar Boustany

Iskandar Boustany is a senior economist and lecturer in public finance at the Saint-Joseph University of Beirut. He is currently the director of “Obergine consulting” a newly established business that provides economic analysis, research, and data services for private and public entities, in addition to social policy advise with particular focus on child protection. He has around 12 years of experience in macro-fiscal policy, various areas of public financial management, in addition to editorial processes and knowledge management.

Beyond the “Muddle-Through” Option

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