Customers at a gas cylinder filling center in the suburbs of Beirut. Photo: AFP
BEIRUT — The union of owners of gas cylinder filling centers, the majority of which were closed on Monday, have called on the Energy Ministry to publish new a tariff schedule that takes into account the daily exchange rate of the Lebanese lira against the dollar on the parallel market.
Here's what we know:
• The union said in a statement that "the scale published on a weekly basis by the ministry is unfair to its members, because it does not ensure any profit margin and does not regularly take into account the increase in the dollar, which generates heavy losses."
• "We call on the Energy Ministry to set a profit margin on each gas cylinder. Just as we buy gas in dollars, we want to sell it in dollars or Lebanese lira depending on the daily exchange rate," the statement added.
• The Lebanese lira, which has depreciated rapidly on the parallel market in the wake of May 15 legislative elections, traded Monday morning around 31,850 LL against a greenback, while its official rate remains fixed at LL1,507.5. The Energy Ministry regularly publishes new fuel prices according to the lira-dollar exchange rate on the central bank's Sayrafa platform; however, the gap between the rate on this platform, set at LL23,600 to the dollar on Monday, and that on the parallel market continues to widen.