Gas prices may rise 30–45 percent this week after officials decided to shift the rate at which is subsidizes fuel. (Credit: João Sousa/L’Orient Today)
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Gasoline and diesel prices may increase by as much as 30–45 percent this week. The hike would come after officials on Friday announced the decision to subsidize fuel imports at a rate of LL3,900 to the US dollar, up from the official, LL1,507.5 subsidy rate. While exactly how much prices will increase and when remain unclear, the head of the fuel distributors’ syndicate told L’Orient Today that the cost of 20 liters of 95-octane gasoline would reach about LL60,000, assuming tariffs and commissions stay the same. Meanwhile, caretaker Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar previously said shifting the fuel subsidy to the LL3,900 rate would cause the price of 20 liters of fuel to jump up to about LL65,000, without providing further details. A statement from the prime minister’s office on Friday said the move is aimed at relieving pressure on gas stations, which for weeks have had hourslong queues due to fuel shortages, and boosting the summer tourism season among Lebanese expats — thereby bringing in much-needed “fresh” dollars.
Several small-scale protests and roadblocks erupted across the country over the weekend as the lira’s exchange rate exceeded LL17,500 to the dollar, a new record low. In Tripoli, 18 people were wounded on Saturday night, with four being taken to the hospital, the Emergency and Relief Corps said. Injuries were also reported in Saida on the same night, and scuffles reportedly broke out the following day when protesters attempted to storm city hall. Throughout the weekend, protesters briefly blocked roads in various areas, including Nabatieh, Akkar, Zahle, Jbeil and Baalbeck, as well as Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square and Ring Bridge — once epicenters of the Oct. 17, 2019, uprising.
Parliament will meet on Thursday to vote on a ration card system for vulnerable families. A joint parliamentary committee last week finalized a draft law for the program, which proposes providing up to $137 a month in monetary assistance to more than 500,000 people, according to Deputy Parliament Speaker Elie Ferzli. Details on the plan’s rollout, including how recipients would retrieve the dollars and at what rate, remain unclear. The ration card scheme is seen as an essential element of authorities’ drive to end subsidies on basic goods, which are draining the central bank’s foreign currency reserves by some $500 million a month.
As of today, only passengers and staff will be permitted to enter the Beirut airport’s arrivals and departures halls in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among travelers. The decision will prevent family and friends from greeting travelers and bidding them farewell inside the airport building. Lebanon’s COVID-19 infections are the lowest they have been since last summer, currently hovering at 100 to 200 new cases a day; however, an uptick in the rate of positive tests at the airport has caused concern over imported cases as the more contagious Delta variant of the virus spreads internationally. Meanwhile, caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan announced on Saturday that 42,000 notifications for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine would be sent out to people younger than 30 who registered on the vaccine platform in mid-February or before. About 425,000 people have been fully vaccinated, with another 460,000 having received their first dose.
Independent groups claimed a landslide victory against established parties in the Order of Engineers and Architects elections on Sunday. Candidates from the independent Naqaba Tantafid (“The Order Revolts”) coalition beat out party-backed representatives to win large majorities in six of the seven departments, including the civil, architecture and agriculture sector departments. The public sector department, meanwhile, was taken by candidates representing traditional political forces, led by the Future Movement candidate Mohammad al-Hajjar. Naqaba Tantafid said it gained 221 of 232 representative seats, and 15 of 20 branch seats. A second round of voting, for council members and a new president, will take place on July 18.
