Aoun signs decree sending budget bill to Parliament

BEIRUT — President Joseph Aoun signed a decree on Thursday transmitting the 2026 draft finance law to Parliament. The decree is No. 1778, dated Oct. 2, 2025.

The draft law, which contains the Lebanese state’s general budget for next year, must be examined, possibly amended, and then approved by parliamentary committees before being submitted to a vote in the full assembly.

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This vote is supposed to take place before the end of the year, or at the latest by the end of January 2026. If Parliament does not vote on the text within this timeframe, the government will have the option of enacting the draft by decree as it was sent to Parliament, regardless of any modifications made afterward.

This would be made possible by the fact that the government sent the draft within the allotted time frame, that is, at least two weeks before the opening of the October parliamentary session of the year it is to be voted on.