Lebanon's government adopts sweeping reforms, mass protests continue

Lebanon's government adopted sweeping reforms today in hopes of appeasing tens of thousands of people who have been protesting for days over the government's handling of the economic crisis and demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Hariri described the adopted measures as a "financial coup", saying that no government in Lebanon's history had taken such steps.

After an almost five-hour emergency cabinet session, Hariri told reporters that his cabinet had adopted the budget for 2020, with a deficit of 0,6 percent, with no new taxes.

He said that the salaries of top officials, including MPs, will be cut in half as part of the economic reform package, and added that the Central Bank of Lebanon and the banking sector will help to reduce the deficit by about 3,4 billion dollars.

The government also approved the abolition of several state institutions, including the Ministry of Information.

Hariri's cabinet also decided to allocate millions of dollars to help poor families.

As Hariri's speech was broadcast live on all local television stations, thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Beirut chanted "The people want to overthrow the regime," as they had in previous days.

Hundreds of thousands of people participated in mass protests across the country yesterday. The protests started on Thursday, when news emerged that one of the measures the government was planning to introduce was a tax on WhatsApp calls, but they soon turned into a general revolt against the entire political elite.

Lebanon's most massive protests since 2015 threaten to further destabilize a country with an economy on the brink of collapse and one of the world's highest debts.