Lebanese President Michel Aoun signed a document on Monday that enables the Electricité du Liban (EDL) to secure an advance payment in foreign currency.
“President Aoun agreed to issue an exceptional approval to give the Electricité du Liban a treasury advance to purchase fuel, and thus the electricity crisis will ease,” the President‘s media office announced on Monday.
In the same context, caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab has signed a letter sent to his office by caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni to ask for exceptional approval for a treasury advance.
With these approvals, the EDL can now obtain the hard currency it requires to purchase fuel for its electric generators.
The shortage of fuel suffered by the EDL amid financial difficulties has caused Lebanon’s state electricity supply to drop sharply across the country.
A recent report indicated that the fuel available for EDL generators at the time was sufficient for less than 10 days.
The impact of the electricity crisis has been alleviated to some extent by the coverage provided by private generators.
However, the private power sector is also being affected by the financial crisis.
This recently prompted the owners of private generators to announce that they would begin to cut daily supply by 4-5 hours a day.
