Optimism, however, has prevailed among ministers who expected the government to endorse the draft this week.

Minister Raya El Hassan told Al Mustaqbal newspaper that a political decision has been taken to pass the 2010 draft state budget in the government this week after all parties have settled on points of disagreements.

She said that some solutions were included in the draft while others will be negotiated when preparations for the 2011 draft budget start.

Yesterday ,  El Hassan, met the Minister of Telecom, Charbel Nahas, prior to the cabinet meeting to discuss differences, and seek settlements.

Both ministers described the meeting as “positive.” According to sources, the ministers have agreed to incorporate expenditures from outside the budget to the whole state budget, so that a consolidated budget with all government spending can be prepared.

El Hassan and Nahas, could not, however, reach an agreement on Nahas’s proposal to set a ceiling for government borrowing, and the cabinet postponed discussions on this issue to today’s session that will take place at 4:00 pm.

 “We agreed not to agree not to agree on this point,” said El Hassan.

Cabinet will hold two additional meetings to discuss the draft-budget, on Thursday and Friday, in addition to today’s session, said Tarek Mitri, the Minister of Information.