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BEIRUT, May 28-- Local economists expressed different views about the 2-percent flat tax imposed by the government on most imports in the 2019 state budget. "Officials increased tariffs on imports from 5 percent to 7 percent but this is not what industrialists really wanted," Nassib Ghobril, economist and head of the economic research department at Byblos Bank, told Xinhua. Ghobril explained that industrialists were demanding measures such as stopping dumping and controlling smuggling across the borders with Lebanon. "What industrialists really want is the closure of factories that do not pay taxes or fees to the National Social Security Fund," he said. According to Ghobril, the government should have imposed tariffs only on products that are produced in Lebanon. Ghobril slammed the new measure, saying that it will have a huge negative impact on merchants and consumers due to higher prices of products. Lebanese Economy Minister Mansour Bteish announced earlier this month that the cabinet has approved a decision to impose a flat tax of 2 percent on all imports to protect local production. "We are imposing a 2-percent flat tax on imports except for pharmaceutical drugs, electric cars and equipment that are used for industrial purposes," Bteish said. For the past few years, industrialists have been urging the government to take measures to protect their industries by halting the dumping of cheap products from other countries in addition to subsidizing the cost of electricity which is very high in Lebanon and contributes greatly in the increase of the industrialists' cost of production. | 
