Lebanon to take out $116 million in loans to fix crippled electric grid

Lebanon to take out $116 million in loans to fix crippled electric grid

BEIRUT –

Lebanon’s caretaker government Wednesday approved opening credit lines totalling $116 million to help fix its crippled state electricity grid.

The cash-strapped country for over two years has struggled with rampant power cuts which have crippled much of public life, worsening a broader economic crisis that has pulled over three-quarters of the country’s population into poverty. Today, households only receive about an hour of state electricity per day, with millions now relying on expensive private generator suppliers to power their homes.