e9 HOSPITALS TRANSFERS

The amounts transferred by the Ministry of Finance to the Hospitals during the past three years, according to the MOF, were as follows:

Year 2004: 236 billion Lebanese pounds
Year 2005: 192 billion Lebanese pounds
Year 2006: 223 billion Lebanese pounds

We can provide no immediate explanation for the disparity in these figures, except invoke possibly the fact that certain expenses incurred during one year remain unpaid and are deferred to subsequent years. We do not know the exact total amount owed by the government to the hospitals to date. Several figures have been quoted in the press. We would like the government to reveal this amount as soon as possible for the sake of total transparency and also because the future deficit in the hospitalization budget could well exceed the present one at EDL and create an even bigger problem.