Lebanon to take $116 million in loans to solve electricity crisis

By Wassim Saif Al-Din

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AA) - Lebanon’s caretaker government on Wednesday approved opening credit lines totaling $116 million to fix the country’s electricity grid.

"An advance of $62 million in favor of the electricity sector has been approved,” Prime Minister Najib Mikati told a press conference in the capital Beirut.

He added that a sum of $54 million has also been allocated for maintenance works.

Lebanon’s two main power plants have occasionally broken down and require heavy maintenance.

On Monday, Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayad announced an initiative to solve the country’s chronic power outages at a cost of $600 million over five months to increase electricity supplies to 10 hours per day.

Since 2019, Lebanon has been plagued by a crippling economic crisis that, according to the World Bank, is one of the worst the world has seen in modern times.

*Ikram Imane Kouachi in Ankara contributed to this report