Long overdue reforms

After nine months of deliberations, Lebanon formed a new government at the end of January. Saad Hariri, now in his third term as prime minister, announced a reform agenda as the cabinet’s raison d’être. Since 2011, Lebanon’s economy has been exhibiting recessionary symptoms and reforms are needed to reboot the economy. According to media reports on the contents of the ministerial statement (the government’s mission statement), the agenda includes: adopting a fiscal and monetary policy to instill confidence in the economy and reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio through growth and spending reduction; passing the 2019 draft budget and auditing public finance from previous years; adopting an anti-corruption strategy; and ensuring 24-hour electricity “as soon as possible,” while reducing the subsidy to the failing public electricity utility. There is much that needs to be done, but given the length of time it took to form this government it is fair to wonder