Member of the Syndicate of Gas Stations, George Brax, clarified that "the Central Bank of Lebanon is continuing its journey towards the gradual withdrawal of indirect support for gasoline imports by providing a portion of this bill according to the Sayrafa platform, with importing companies providing the remaining part from free currency markets. So far, the ratio was 40% Sayrafa and 60% non-subsidized, but today, the Central Bank reduced the Sayrafa percentage in the fuel price structure table from 40% to 20%, increasing the non-subsidized portion to 80%. It is clear that the Central Bank has only one last stage left before it stops providing dollars through the Sayrafa platform altogether, reaching a formula of zero Sayrafa and 100% non-subsidized free market."
He added, "In today's table, the exchange rate of the dollar according to the Sayrafa platform increased by 400 Lebanese pounds from 27,200 to 27,600 pounds. The exchange rate of the dollar used in the table for importing diesel, gas, and 80% of gasoline is calculated based on parallel free market prices that importing companies and stations must secure in cash, decreased by 200 pounds from 35,050 to 34,850 pounds. Accordingly, the price of 95-octane gasoline increased by 12,000 pounds to become 628,000 pounds, resulting from the equation between the decrease in the imported kiloliter price by approximately 14 dollars and the increase in the dollar price in Sayrafa, while it fell in the parallel market. The price of diesel decreased by 2,000 pounds to become 777,000 pounds, due to an increase in the imported kiloliter price by 4 dollars, alongside the dollar exchange rate falling by 200 pounds in the parallel market. The price of the gas cylinder also decreased by 2,000 pounds to become 341,000 pounds."
