Taxi Drivers Block Roads Anew to Press for Their Demands

Taxi drivers blocked several key roads across the country on Monday morning in protest at the latest hike in fuel prices.

In the capital, the drivers blocked the vital Ring highway and the Saifi intersection in central Beirut.

Others meanwhile blocked the Aley roundabout in Mount Lebanon and the al-Nejmeh and al-Murjan roundabouts in the southern city of Sidon.

The roads remained blocked for several hours before being reopened.

The protests were held under the “We’re Hungry” slogan, with the drivers decrying the negative impact of the price of gasoline on their profession and livelihood amid a crunching economic crisis.

The country had witnessed similar protests on Wednesday after the Energy Ministry announced new fuel prices.

The latest hike is linked to a global rise in the prices of fuel and marks a de facto end to state subsidies, pushing the cost of filling a vehicle's tank to more than the monthly minimum wage in the poverty-stricken nation.

The prices of fuel had already soared in Lebanon after the central bank gradually lifted and eventually ended subsidization.

A common unit of measurement -- 20 liters -- of 95-octane gasoline was hiked by LBP 59,900 on Wednesday to reach LBP 302,700, or around $15 at the black market rate. This is around five times the price of 61,100 pounds set at the end of June, adding to the economic pain in a country where power cuts are common and basic goods including medicine have become scarce.

Diesel is meanwhile selling at LBP 270,700 per 20 liters and a cylinder of cooking gas is selling at LBP 229,600.

An energy ministry official said that the "latest petroleum prices were calculated on the basis of a currency exchange rate of 20,000 pounds to the dollar as per a central bank request."