Lebanon Leaders Reach Short-term Deal on Fuel Subsidies
Voice of America
BEIRUT - Lebanese leaders agreed to a short-term compromise to maintain fuel subsidies, the presidency and prime minister's office said Saturday, a move that will trigger more price hikes.
Earlier this month, the central bank said it could no longer support fuel imports at a preferential exchange rate, in what many saw as a de facto end to subsidies. Widespread panic ensued, with distributors scaling back deliveries until new prices were announced and desperate motorists forming long queues outside gas stations. At a time when the state electricity supply is almost nonexistent, fuel oil to run backup generators to power homes, businesses and even hospitals has also been in short supply.Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. Fire rages following an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, May 26, 2024. Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a camp for internally displaced people in Rafah on May 27, 2024. A member of the bomb squad of the Israeli police collects debris after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck in the Israeli city of Herzliya on May 26, 2024.