According to the Ministry of Finance, transfers to Electricite du Liban (EDL) stood at $527.26M by November 2021, dropping by 34.9% 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 99.69% of total transfers, slumped yearly by 34.9% to reach $527.26M by November 2021, as the volumes of fuel and gas oil imported decreased by 41.1% and 62.74%, respectively.
EDL contributed for 2.12% out of the total oil bill – cost of gas oil and fuel oil purchase. This figure was lower at 0.07% during the same period of 2020. EDL transfers represented a share of 5.7% of the government’s primary expenditures (excluding interest payments), which reached $8.68B by November 2021, compared to a higher share of 8.2% last year.
Caretaker Minister of Energy and Water, Walid Fayyad, announced that starting the week of February 13th, 2023, EDL is ready to improve its power supply by reaching 500 megawatts, which is equivalent to about 4 hours of supply per day. Minister Fayyad also announced the start of collection based on the new tariffs, which will be calculated at a dollar exchange rate of Sayrafa plus 20%. However, weak governance, corruption and mismanagement remain the root of the sector’s problems, thus largely unaddressed.
EDL Contribution from Total Oil Bill by November 2021
Source: MOF, BlomInvest