The Lebanese Ministry of Energy announced a new increase in the price of fuel in the country by 15%, and this increase comes the second of its kind in two days, amid a severe economic and living crisis that provokes more protests.
The new increase was announced today, Thursday, after the fuel import companies objected to the prices set by the ministry two days ago, according to which the fuel price was raised by 35%.
The move comes based on the decision of the caretaker government headed by Hassan Diab to import fuels according to an exchange rate of the dollar that more than doubles its official exchange rate, in an attempt to confront the crisis of fuel scarcity in the country.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Johnny Tanios said that the decision to raise prices will not be welcomed by the Lebanese street, adding that it is one of the repercussions of the unprecedented economic crisis in the country, at least since the end of the civil war in Lebanon in the early nineties of the last century.
He pointed out that the purpose of all these measures is to address the fuel shortage crisis in the markets, and reduce the queues that form in front of gas stations.
Ongoing crisis
Al-Jazeera correspondent explained that the measures taken so far have not addressed the crisis, as queues of cars still extend for hundreds of meters in the vicinity of gas stations in various Lebanese regions.
And Lebanese citizens were quoted as waiting for long hours in order to obtain gasoline, pointing to the presence of members of the various security services in order to facilitate obtaining fuel.
Following a meeting of the Higher Defense Council on Tuesday, Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on the security forces not to tolerate chaos after recent protests over the deteriorating economic and living conditions.