Diab Chairs Meeting on Rationalization of Subsidies

Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab chaired a meeting on Tuesday of the inter-ministerial committee on the rationalization of subsidies of goods, the National News Agency reported.

The meeting was held in the presence of Ministers Zeina Akar, Ghazi Wazni, Raoul Nehme, Imad Hoballah, Raymond Ghajar, Hamad Hassan, and Abbas Mortada, in addition to Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers Mahmoud Makkieh, and PM’s Advisor, Khodor Taleb.

The meeting deliberated on the subsidy program and relevant proposed scenarios, said NNA.

The Central Bank is expected to end subsidies on the imports of fuel, wheat and medicine.

Since the local currency’s collapse, the bank has been using its depleting reserves to support imports of fuel, wheat and medicine.

Lebanon is grappling with an unprecedented and worsening economic crisis that pushed many Lebanese into poverty.

A plan to stop subsidies on basic goods would aggravate the economic crisis even more, and leave a large part of the population unable to secure their basic needs.