Cars line up, waiting for their turn to fill up fuel at a Wardieh gas station in Saida. (Credit: Muntasser Abdallah)
BEIRUT — Long queues at gas stations reemerged Monday morning as seen at many gas stations across the country, with L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south reporting long queues at gas stations in Saida, in light of the depreciation of the Lebanese lira which further plummeted over the weekend.
Here’s what we know:
• Fears of shortages led drivers to line up at stations, while a number of stations were already closed. Queues were seen at some petrol stations in and around Saida as well as Bint Jbeil in Nabatieh, while a number of them remained closed claiming that they have run out of fuel or are waiting for new prices, according to L’Orient Today’s correspondent and the state-run National News Agency.
• The lira fell further Saturday, trading at LL34,000 against the dollar on the parallel market, prompting new fuel prices Monday, with 20 liters of gasoline now costing around LL591,000.
• Gas Station Owners’ Syndicate spokesperson Georges Brax said in a statement today that the Central Bank is in the process of gradually lifting subsidies on gasoline, adding that an adjustment to the terms of payment for imports took place, increasing the dollar exchange rate for imported gasoline.
• According to Brax, Banque du Liban is to secure 45 percent of the US dollars paid to import gasoline at the parallel market rate, and only 55 percent at the BDL’s Sayrafa rate, which as of Friday stands at LL26,900. Importers were last making 70 percent of each payment at the Sayrafa rate.
Additional reporting by Muntasser Abdallah
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