The Central Bank of Lebanon is set to open credits for seven companies to import fuel into Lebanon, LBCI reported on Monday.
Seven fuel importers will receive approval to import a total of seven ships of diesel fuel and gasoline, five of which have been waiting in Lebanese waters for days. The remaining two ships are on their way to Lebanon.
It’s unclear as of the time of writing, how much fuel the ships in question are loaded with.
By granting them permission to unload, the Banque du Liban (BDL) will be subsidizing the import of these ships at the rate of 8,000 Lebanese pounds per U.S. dollar.
The BDL had, until recently, been subsidizing the import of fuel at the rate of LBP 3,900/USD, a semi-official exchange rate introduced by the central bank last year.
In August, after announcing that it could no longer subsidize fuel, the BDL agreed to open an account dedicated for the subsidization of fuel until September at the exchange rate of LBP 8,000/USD, which is lower than the black market rate.
Currently, the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar on the black market sits at about LBP 16,000/USD.
Last week, the dollar had been selling for about LBP 19,000 before the lira spiked following the formation of a new cabinet.