The Minister of Energy and Water Walid Fayad explained that “the wrong policies adopted has brought us to where we are in the fuel file today, and support should have been focused on those who need it.”

Fayad said in a television interview, “The situation is worrying to an extent that I saw that we could take some measures that would enable us to put the train on the right track.”

He pointed out that “the price of fuel will remain linked to the dollar exchange rate and global oil prices, and this is part of the reform.”

Regarding the electricity plan, Fayad said that it “will positively affect the Lebanese, and the first stage is practical and technical far from the political strife,” noting that “we are taking practical steps towards implementing the first part of the electricity plan, which is the most important because it requires increasing supply hours.”

Fayad added, “The first phase of the electricity plan is to “increase power supply” to 8 and 10 hours by importing gas from Egypt and electricity from Jordan at the best prices, and gas is cheaper than oil fuel.”

Fayad announced that “we will reach 17 hours of electricity supply by 2023.”

He added, “We received the latest copy of the contracts regarding Egyptian gas, which we will sign, and the Egyptians talked about their readiness to give us gas as of spring 2022, and this matter is related to the financing of the World Bank and obtaining the necessary approvals regarding the Caesar Act.”

Fayad said: “We are working to operate Deir Ammar and Zahrani plants on gas instead of fuel oil via the Arab Gas Pipeline, and to secure the requirements for establishing new plants.”

Regarding the tariff increase, Fayad revealed that “the household, which used to pay one or two million LBP for generators, will pay 500,000 LBP for the state’s electricity.”