Transfers to EDL up

Treasury transfers to EDL reach $1.13 billion, up by 36 percent y-o-y

Treasury transfers to Eléctricité du Liban (EDL), totaled $1.13 billion at the end of September 2011, according to figures released by the Ministry of Finance.

Transfers to the EDL were $833 million over the same period of last year.

The difference was mainly driven by an increase of $266 million in payments for fuel and gas oil purchases. Payments to the two oil suppliers, KPC and SPC, totaled $1 billion in 2011. According to the MoF, the significant increase in payments is primarily caused by higher global oil prices. It said that the average oil price upon which the 2011 payments were made was 26 percent higher than the average oil price during the first nine months of 2010. A bulk payment of around $36 million was made this year for natural gas provided by EGAS.

Transfers to EDL accounted for 21 percent of primary expenditures till end-September 2011.