The move is to stimulate sale of those kinds of cars which will help reduce pollution and preserve the health of citizens, the Minister of Finance, Rayya El Hassan, said. 

The World Bank has said that environmental deterioration costs Lebanon $560 million per annum.

The Minister of Environment, Mohamad Rahal, said that “the transportation sector accounts for about  80 percent of air pollution.” He said that the Ministry is considering a plan to replace the 20,000 existing taxi cabs with hybrid ones. “We will form a committee which will conduct a feasibility study on the plan,” he said.

Rahal said he hopes the council of ministers agrees on a plan that entitles all public entities to import environmentally friendly vehicles- exclusively.