Diab Chairs Electricity Meeting Attended by World Bank Team
Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Monday presided over a meeting dedicated to discussing the country’s electricity file.
The Grand Serail meeting was attended by a World Bank delegation led by regional chief Saroj Kumar Jha.
It was also attended by Deputy PM and Defense Minister Zeina Akar, Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar and Economy Minister Raoul Nehme.
A dated electricity grid, rampant corruption and lack of reform has left power supply lagging way behind rising demand since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
Government subsidies to state-run EDL electricity firm have also worsened the cash-strapped government’s budget.
EDL receives one of the largest slices of the government's budget after debt servicing and salaries.
According to the World Bank, government transfers to EDL averaged 3.8 percent of gross domestic product from 2008 to 2017, amounting to about half of Lebanon's fiscal deficit.
Lebanon is one of the world's most indebted countries.
Lebanon had committed itself to overhauling the electricity sector during the 2019 CEDRE conference in Paris.
4 years
Because they are connected to the corrupt politicians that are still holding on to power...
All talk and nothing will happen unless FPM and Amal are forced to let go of the sector. The plan is nothing but overhyped trash pushed by FPM.
With all the failures of EDL, can someone explain to me why their management is still in place from the days of the Syrian occupation? They should have been fired long ago.