Adjusting salaries is a mandatory pathway to reform and recovery
"No state without state employees" was a slogan raised recently by public sector employees at one of their demonstrations to demand an adjustment to their salaries, which have fallen to unprecedented levels. The increases approved under the label of "social assistance and financial incentives" have compensated for only a tiny fraction of what employees have lost since the collapse of the national currency starting in 2019. Moreover, meager as these increases are, they have not been incorporated into the base salary, causing unfairness and inflicting grave injustice upon retirees, whose retirement benefits have evaporated due to inflation and the rising cost of living in Lebanon.
Despite claims by previous governments that they were working to adjust the salaries of public sector employees and members of the military and security services, those efforts remained stalled on the pretext of the restrictions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) against increasing expenditure on salaries, and the need to link such increases to economic recovery. Although the current government renewed promises to draw up a new salary scale, the 2026 budget arrived devoid of any increase in the salaries and wages line item, with the exception of raising the allocations for "public authorities and their annexes", meaning ministers, in addition to the allocations for advisers.
The failure to adjust salaries has taken a toll on the regularity of official working hours stipulated in Article 23 of the 2017 Budget Law, which have shrunk to four days a week instead of five, and until 2:30 in the afternoon instead of 3:30, and in some sectors to even less than that. The door has also been opened for civil servants to engage in paid commercial, industrial, or artisanal work in violation of the Civil Service Law, a practice that has also extended to military personnel in violation of the National Defense Law, which prohibits them from engaging in any paid employment.
This reality has driven successive governments since the crisis began to accept foreign financial grants in favor of the Lebanese Army and the Internal Security Forces, in order to alleviate the suffering of their personnel, who have been pushed to the brink of poverty. Although these grants seemed justified in the first months of the crisis at the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, continuing to rely on them to this day constitutes a badge of shame on the brow of the government and Parliament, and proof of their dereliction in finding serious solutions to Lebanon's financial and economic crisis.
Despite the passage of nearly six years since the onset of the crisis and the state's default, the issue of salary adjustment continues to oscillate between fear of its repercussions on the exchange rate and linking it to the trajectory of economic recovery, now compounded by the aforementioned restrictions of the International Monetary Fund. Yet adjusting salaries and wages raises employees' purchasing power and inevitably translates into higher demand for goods and services, as well as an increase in consumption that helps stimulate various productive and economic sectors, thereby achieving economic recovery.
Salaries and wages are not merely a cost paid by the state to public sector employees, but rather the price of those employees' contribution to the provision of public services; without civilian and military personnel, neither the public sector nor its services would exist. And no economy can rise or regain its health in the absence of an effective and capable state.
The state is not merely a legal entity or a theoretical framework, but a living entity that derives its strength from its army and security forces, which serve as the safety valve and the guarantee of societal stability. Without them, the state loses its authority and weakens in its ability to protect its borders and sovereignty and to maintain internal security, which is the primary prerequisite for creating a safe environment for investment, work, and production. Furthermore, the presence of a strong army and effective security agencies does not merely preserve security, but also provides reassurance to society and restores citizens' confidence in their country and in their ability to build their future within it.
In parallel, the vital role of public sector employees stands out, as they run the state's administrative, service, and judicial institutions, and secure the legal and regulatory framework that makes the state an attractive environment for investment, primed for growth and for setting the wheel of production in motion. They are the daily engine driving public utilities, and it is they who make the state present in people's everyday lives; their role goes beyond procedural duties to establishing the state as the pacesetter of public life and economic activity. This does not mean neglecting the establishment of e-government and the provision of administrative transactions via the internet, in a way that facilitates citizens' affairs and keeps pace with modern development.
Thus, the work of the army and security forces complements the efforts of public sector employees, together forming the backbone of the state's existence and continuity, and laying the foundation for any genuine process of economic or social reform. Neither economic reform nor social recovery is possible without firm security and an effective public administration. Accordingly, adjusting salaries is not considered a luxury so much as a fundamental prerequisite for enabling state institutions to perform their role and ensuring their continuity.
As Lebanon's unfolding financial and economic crisis drags on for the sixth consecutive year, a question arises: how can the state reclaim its vital role while its civil servants and military personnel receive salaries insufficient to cover their simplest basic expenses? All the more so because when the state falters, this reflects directly on the economy, which loses the pillars of its revival and the foundations of its survival.
Lebanon is not the only country whose national economy has collapsed and whose national currency has plunged with it by more than 95 percent, a development reflected directly in the salaries of public sector employees, which lost their purchasing power to the same extent, and perhaps more. However, Lebanon remains the only country where the crisis has persisted for six consecutive years without a clear government plan to curb its repercussions and halt the trajectory of collapse, while officials content themselves with going around in a vicious circle, incapable of approaching the crisis with the seriousness and responsibility demanded by reality and the facts.
Conversely, the restoration of the state's pivotal role and the enhancement of its effectiveness can only be achieved by reactivating its executive instruments across various sectors, meaning restoring the presence of public sector employees at their posts and delivering services to citizens. Yet the dilemma lies in the fact that their income barely covers their basic expenses and the cost of commuting to their workplaces, which makes leaving wages as they are a cause of paralysis in public administration, reflects negatively on the cycle of production and services, and thwarts every investment effort.
Military personnel, meanwhile, have not ceased performing their national duty to preserve security and stability despite the catastrophic decline in the value of their salaries, and despite enduring hardships, hazards, and the burden of commuting to their duty stations, in addition to the decline in the standard of certain basic services, foremost among them meals at duty stations, which has compounded their financial burdens. Even as the burdens placed on the shoulders of the army and security forces grow heavier, parsimony persists in approving pay increases that are outpaced by inflation and rising prices, worsening the suffering of military personnel and their families day after day.
Adjusting salaries is a gateway to reform and the road to economic recovery
The wage crisis in both the civilian and military sectors is no longer merely a labor demand, but has become an obstacle blocking the revival of the state itself, because a state without an effective administration and security forces and an army capable of enduring is nothing more than an empty shell lacking the elements of survival. Salaries and wages must be adjusted on the basis of incorporating all financial assistance and incentives into the base salary, working to establish a new scale of ranks and salaries while adopting a sliding wage scale linked to the cost of living index, and calculating family allowances for a wife and children in light of the cumulative annual inflation rate.
The economy cannot recover while the backbone of public administration and national security lives on the verge of poverty, and any reform that fails to address the conditions of the public sector or ignores the importance of shoring up the military services will remain piecemeal and incapable of succeeding. Fiscal reform must begin by restoring respect for the concept of a decent wage that guarantees a dignified living and incentivizes work and productivity.
Translated from Arabic with AI. Read it in Arabic