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Cabinet agrees to hike telecom tariffs
In its final meeting before it is officially considered to be resigned, Lebanon’s cabinet on Friday afternoon agreed to increase the telecom tariffs for Ogero, Alfa and MTC starting in July, Information Minister Ziad Mkari announced.The new rate will be the equivalent of the bill divided by three and then multiplied by the Sayrafa rate, currently set at LL23,900. This means that a $100 invoice, equivalent to LL150,000 when calculated at the official rate of LL1,500 per US dollar, will increase to LL796,667 (about $25 when calculated at the current parallel market rate). A committee will be formed to study the plans that would be offered at the new rate. Officials anticipate that about 26 percent of telecoms customers would drop their service at the new rates.