Public Actions

Following numerous meetings, the gasoline import subsidy mechanism was finally modified, and the ratio of US dollars obtainable at BDL's Sayrafa rate increased from 85 percent to 100 percent, announced Georges Brax, spokesman for the gas station owners' syndicate, on Thursday evening. This announcement was made after numerous meetings between Energy Minister Walid Fayad and several players in the sector, ranging from service stations to importers and distributors. The minister also spoke with the Banque du Liban Governor Riad Salameh, asking him to "maintain a mechanism for subsidizing fuel imports for two months," according to Brax. This would leave the newly announced measures in place until mid-May, coinciding with Lebanon's May 15 parliamentary elections.