(Bloomberg) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced plans to tax banks' profits and slash the salaries of ministers by 50% to reduce the budget deficit while sparing average citizens the brunt of austerity in a bid to contain mass protests demanding the government's ouster.
In a televised speech, Hariri said the plan also includes:
- Reducing the electricity sector's financial deficit
- Creating an anti-corruption body by the end of the year
- An $100 million World Bank loan at low interest rates
Hariri said the measures would reduce the budget deficit to 0.6% of gross domestic product in 2020, compared with more than 11% in 2018.
To contact the reporters on this story: Lin Noueihed in Cairo at lnoueihed@bloomberg.net;Dana Khraiche in Beirut at dkhraiche@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Paul Abelsky
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