Taxi drivers protest hikes in fuel prices in crisis-hit Lebanon

Beirut, Oct 25 (EFE).- Lebanese taxi drivers Monday staged roadblocks in Beirut in protest against soaring petrol prices as the country is roiled by a worsening economic crisis.

On Wednesday, the Lebanese government raised the prices for the second time within a week to entirely remove subsidies on fuel products.

Twenty liters of 95-octane gasoline now cost 303,000 Lebanese pounds, while Diesel increased to 35,000 Lebanese pounds per 20 liters.

The increasing prices have forced taxi drives to stop working, which led many Lebanese citizens to ride bicycles and motorcycles instead.

Lebanon has been for months gripped by one of the world’s worst financial and economic crises of the past 150 years, according to the World Bank.

The country is facing severe shortages of basic products and services such as medicine, fuel, electricity and running water, while its gross domestic product per capita has plunged by around 40 percent in dollar terms since 2018, according to that Washington DC-based international financial institution. EFE

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