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Lebanese Minister of Energy Said To Use “Alternative Transportation”
Lebanese caretaker Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar that the country’s petrol subsidy that people benefited from for a year and a half was unjustifiable and would eventually end.
Shortages of fuel in past weeks have forced Lebanese drivers to line up for hours to get barely any gasoline, with disputes breaking out amongst frustrated residents. Nevertheless, the subsidy program costs Lebanon at least $6bn a year, half of which is spent on petrol.
The minister said that the subsidies will soon be removed and those who can’t afford paying 200,000 Lebanese pounds for a tank of gasoline should stop using a car and use something else instead. The minister stated that 200,000 LBP, or around $13 at the unofficial market rate, reflected the real value of the gasoline whereas presently it was only charged at 40,000 LBP.
Ghajar added that this would raise fuel prices and in turn cut down smuggling to Syria, while keeping prices significantly underneath what people would have to pay if subsidies ended and gas was priced at the black-market rate. Meanwhile, parliamentary talks over the future of subsidies are set to resume today at 10 a.m.
Ghajar urged the Lebanese to get used to the eventual lifting of fuel subsidies and the urgent need to find alternative transportation that does not rely on gasoline.
“We’re not blaming anybody” he said closing his speech.
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وزير الطاقة يدعو المواطن لاستخدام وسائل نقل بديلة لا تعتمد على البنزين #لبنان_ليس_بخير pic.twitter.com/BvfIlRyzBB
— Larissa Aoun (@LarissaAounSky) June 17, 2021
Shortages of fuel in past weeks have forced Lebanese drivers to line up for hours to get barely any gasoline, with disputes breaking out amongst frustrated residents. Nevertheless, the subsidy program costs Lebanon at least $6bn a year, half of which is spent on petrol.
The minister said that the subsidies will soon be removed and those who can’t afford paying 200,000 Lebanese pounds for a tank of gasoline should stop using a car and use something else instead. The minister stated that 200,000 LBP, or around $13 at the unofficial market rate, reflected the real value of the gasoline whereas presently it was only charged at 40,000 LBP.
Ghajar added that this would raise fuel prices and in turn cut down smuggling to Syria, while keeping prices significantly underneath what people would have to pay if subsidies ended and gas was priced at the black-market rate. Meanwhile, parliamentary talks over the future of subsidies are set to resume today at 10 a.m.
Ghajar urged the Lebanese to get used to the eventual lifting of fuel subsidies and the urgent need to find alternative transportation that does not rely on gasoline.
“We’re not blaming anybody” he said closing his speech.
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