According to the Ministry of Finance, transfers to EDL stood at $256.80M by April 2021, dropping by 33.6% compared to the same period last year. This was mainly a result of lower payments to KPC and Sonatrach for fuel oil purchases, and lower debt services.
In details “Payments to fuel and oil gas suppliers KPC and SPC”, constituting 99.92% of total transfers, slumped yearly by 33.4% to $256.61M by April 2021, as the volumes of fuel and gas oil imported decreased by 24.83% and 35.89%, respectively.
EDL contributed for 0.41% out of the total oil bill – cost of gas oil and fuel oil purchase. This figure was lower at 0.02% during the same period of 2020, of a higher bill of $385.60M.
EDL transfers represented a share of 7.7% of the government’s primary expenditures (excluding interest payments), which reached $3,314.09M by April 2021, compared to a higher share of 10.3% last year.
Importantly, data for EDL transfers is still not updated for the recent period; however, we note that the Electricity sector in Lebanon is still adding pressure to the financial crisis . For this reason, a defined reform and recovery plan must start with the energy sector, added to that immediate action must be implemented as an urgent solution to increase the country’s electricity supply.
EDL Contribution from Total Oil Bill by April
Source: MoF, BLOMINVEST Bank