Lebanon army deploys at pumps as bank chief firm on lifting fuel subsidies

Lebanon'sarmySaturday raided gas stations and seizedpetrolto curb hoarding as the centralbankchiefstoodfirmonhis decision to haltfuelsubsidies.

Lebanonis gripped by one of the world's worst economic crises since the 1850s, according to theWorld Bank, and is struggling withfuel, bread and medicine shortages.

OnWednesday centralbankchiefRiad Salameh said he would halt statesubsidiesonfuelimports to ease pressureonthebank's dwindling foreign reserves, sparking panic across the country.

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Saturday Salameh insisted he would not back down from his decision without a parliamentary vote, saying foreign reserves had fallen to $14 billion.

"I will not review the removal ofsubsidiesonfuelunless the use of compulsory reserves is legalised" by a parliamentary vote, he told local radio.

The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90 per cent of its valueonthe black market, and 78 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line.

Crippling shortages offueland power cuts lasting more than 22 hours per day have left many businesses and homes without thedieselneeded to power private generators, plunging the country into darkness.

They have also caused giant queues atpetrolstations that are rationing gasoline supply, allegedly because of low stock.

Fuelimporters blame the crisisona delay by the centralbankin opening credit lines to fund imports.

Salameh denied those chargesonSaturday, accusing importers and distributors of holding backfuelto sell it at higher prices in the black market, or across the border in Syria.

"The importers are to blame," Salameh said, accusing them of squandering $820 million the lender had fronted for three months of imports.

Armydeploys

To stem hoarding, thearmyonSaturday said it was raiding closed gas stations to seize gasoline and distribute it "free of charge" to the people.

It shared pictures and video footageonits social media pages, showing soldiers workingpumpsat gas stations and filling up car tanks.

An AFP correspondent saw soldiers deployed at several gas stations north of Beirut, where hundreds of vehicles had been queueing for long hours to fill uponpetrol.

Video footage posted online showed motorists cheering as thearmyraided gas stations.

But some Lebanese remained bitter.

"Thearmy's decision is too late," said one motorist who had been waiting for hours in the simmering heat.

After thearmy's deployment, manypetrolstations across the country reopened after closing for several days.

The police also announced Saturday they would dispatch patrols to gas stations believed to be hoardingfueland confiscate it.

Political crisis

The centralbank's funding offueland other basic commodity imports has contributed to foreign reserves falling by more than 50 per cent from their pre-crisis level of more than $30 billion.

Salameh blamedLebanon's ruling class for the crisis.

"Everybody was aware... they were aware in government, parliament and the president's office" that reserves were critically low, Salameh said, accusing them of inaction.

Salameh has headed the centralbanksince 1993 and is suspected by many Lebanese of helping facilitate large transfers of money abroad by the political elite during mass protests that began in October 2019.

He is under judicial investigation inLebanon, Switzerland and France over several cases, including the diversion of public funds and illicit enrichment.

At home, many blame him for capital controls in place since 2019 that have trapped dollar savings and denied even the poorest segment of the population free access to their deposits.

But Salameh has pinned the blameonpoliticians who have failed to agreeona new government more than one year since caretaker premier Hassan Diab resigned in the wake of a monster explosion at the Beirut port.

International donors who have pledged millions in humanitarian aid toLebanonhaveconditioned assistanceonthe formation of a new government that can spearhead reforms and resume negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.