Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel on Monday considered the Budget material bogus and tantamount to mass suicide and to tax evasion and parallel economy legislation, deeming it a farce.

"We waste our time by moving ahead rather than implementing reforms and contemplating how to infuse dollars into the nation. All of the revenues that are being discussed are fictitious since the salary rise will result in more money being printed, which would produce big inflation that will negate the wage increase and reduce everyone's purchasing power,” Gemayel remarked while the parliament was convened.

He believed that the council's actions today penalized those who follow the law and pay taxes while encouraging tax evasion.

 "If half of the economy today ranges between legal and illegal, with this budget, our economy would become entirely unlawful since individuals will dodge taxes and switch to the parallel economy,” he noted.

“We believe that the material under discussion is false, but in order to maintain the opposition's unity, we chose to attend and voice our disagreement with all of these materials, which defy common sense and will end up causing the remainder of Lebanon's economy to collapse,” Gemayel concluded.