Beirut Goes Dark As Economic Tailspin Sees Dire Fuel & Electricity Shortages
Starting Wednesday night Lebanon’s Central Bank announced that fuel subsidies have been halted, already at a moment where there’s been scarcity of both gas and electricity. Fuel prices are expected to at least quadruple, leading to a national scramble for fuel, exacerbating rolling blackouts akin to what’s become the tragic “norm” of recent years in neighboring war-torn Syrian.
International reports are underscoring that the enduring economic crisis beginning in 2019 which sparked a year of mass protests and a currency crisis, and subsequent failed attempts to stave off total collapse amid a drastic “shock” change in government, are now coming to a head, sending already impoverished areas of the country of nearly seven million spiraling into steadily worsened conditions.
Regional director of humanitarian aid NGO Crisis Group, Heiko Wimmen, was cited in CNN as saying “This is obviously going to ripple through the whole economy.” He emphasized that seemingly overnight basic staples that support daily life have now become a “luxury”.
“For a large part of the population, electricity will become a luxury. Driving your car will become a luxury, too. Transportation will become a luxury,” Wimmen added.
The cutting of subsidies was expected, but still a “shock” nonetheless. Like everything else in Lebanon energy has been severely mismanaged, after already the government suspended lines of credit to fuel importers.
So the sudden liberalization of fuel prices meant whole villages, towns, and parts of cities were plunged into darkness overnight as not even generators could keep the lights on:
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