It seems that the Central Bank of Lebanon is moving towards completely liberating the "Sayrafa" exchange rate from the burdens of financing gasoline imports. The goal is to calculate the price of a gas canister at 100% based on the free market exchange rate. This means that the price of a canister will reach $20.5 if calculated based on current global prices and the fixed costs in Lebanese pounds within the price table. The price of the canister will change according to fluctuations in the free market exchange rate and global prices. It may also be affected by local distribution companies' fees and gas station owners' fees.
In summary, the $20.5 is equivalent to 656,000 Lebanese pounds based on an exchange rate of 32,000 pounds, which is a difference of 12% or 70,000 pounds from the price announced in the price structure table issued by the Ministry of Energy yesterday. The direction towards liberating "Sayrafa" from this burden is not new; it has been a policy followed by the Central Bank of Lebanon since the days of subsidies. This policy has been applied to the price of fuel oil, which is now in cash dollars, alongside discussions about the financial card that has yet to materialize. It has also been gradually applied to drug prices. Now, the Central Bank is gradually implementing it on the price of gasoline, which was initially subsidized at a rate of 1,520 Lebanese pounds per dollar, then the pricing was divided between the Sayrafa rate and the subsidized price, becoming fully based on the "Sayrafa" rate. Today, it is 70% based on the Sayrafa rate and 30% according to the free market rate. In clearer terms, the central bank must secure 70% of the necessary dollars to import gasoline at the Sayrafa rate of 26,200, while traders must provide 30% of the dollars needed to import the quantities required from the free market at a rate of 32,000 pounds and possibly more.
