The Parliament's Finance and Budget committee on Monday allowed the government to maintain its extra-bugetary spending until July 15, pending the ratification of the State budget for the year 2019.

The extension was approved based on the so-called "12th rule" which allows the allocation of the same amount of money to the same expenses as specified in the most recent budget whenever no new one is endorsed.

The Parliament's general assembly will still have to endorse the extension decision.

53 lawmakers attended the committee's first meeting aimed at studying the 2019 draft budget which was approved by the government last week. The blueprint will be referred to the general assembly once the committee is done examining it.

“No clear timetable can be set for the ratification of the budget; our efforts will focus on getting this done by mid-July,” the committee head, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, said.

“We are awaiting the audits of the financial accounts of all the previous years, not only 2017 to be referred by the government; we shall not be lenient regarding this,” he added.