The buildings rented by the Lebanese state constitute one of the most important sources of squandering to the public money. The state incurs 250 billion Lebanese pounds annually for leasing costs of government buildings, including what is being paid in dollars.

It is noteworthy that the Lebanese state owns more than 200 properties in Beirut, and they are completely empty.

In the 2018 budget, a law was passed for constructing several buildings for public administrations, but it remained ink on paper.

As for the year 2020, the budget allocated an amount of 750 billion LBP to build government buildings on state lands under the title of a program to construct buildings for public administrations, and to date this law has not been implemented.

Below is the cost of renting some government buildings:

Ministry of Environment: $512,000 per year

Council for Development and Reconstruction in downtown Beirut: $897,000

Audit Bureau building: 1,160 billion LBP

Central Inspection: 1,119 billion LBP

ESCWA building in Beirut: 15 billion LBP

The dangerous matter is that the total amount paid by the government as leasing fees for ESCWA since 1997 until today reached more than $200 million, while the actual cost of constructing this building does not exceed $30 million.

As for the reasons behind keeping these rents, they are quotas and political benefits, knowing that most of these buildings are owned by current and former deputies, ministers and presidents.