BEIRUT, Mar 17 (NNN-NNA) – Lebanon’s cabinet approved an electricity reform plan yesterday, a critical step in addressing the country’s financial crisis, according to a statement by the Council of Ministers, or Lebanon’s cabinet.
The plan includes the construction of new power plants and the establishment of an electricity regulatory authority in 2022, as requested by western donors and the World Bank.
The International Monetary Fund, with which Lebanon is negotiating a possible bailout programme, said that, reforming the electricity sector was a key pillar of the country’s recovery from a deep financial crisis.
After a cabinet session, Energy Minister, Walid Fayad, pledged to do his best to establish the regulatory authority.
Since 1990, the electrical sector has accounted for around 40 percent of Lebanon’s public debt of more than 100 billion dollars.
