The Lebanese authorities in the late summer of 2021 began suspending gasoline subsidies, saying that the central bank no longer had the funds to keep fuel prices low. The removal of gasoline subsidies is expected to stop fuel smuggling into neighboring Syria.
"The central bank finally stopped subsidizing gasoline and set the settlement rate at 35,250 liras per dollar," Brax said, as quoted by newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
Previously, the official rate of the central bank was about 1,500 liras per dollar.
As a result, on Monday the price of 95-octane gasoline and 98-octane gasoline instantly rose by 20,000 liras to 638,000 and 653,000 liras per can, respectively. Diesel price fell by 1,000 liras and reached 790,000 per gas can.
Before the start of the financial and economic crisis in 2019, a can of gasoline cost 25,000 liras.
Lebanon has been mired in a deep financial and economic crisis, accompanied by political and social tensions, for over two years. Against the background of the crisis, the banking system has completely collapsed, the national currency has depreciated more than 20 times against the US dollar. As a result, over 70% of the population were left below the poverty line.