Jordan PM holds talks on supplying Lebanon with electricity, gas

Jordanian Prime Minister Bishr al-Khasawneh Thursday held talks with top Lebanese leaders focusing on supplying Lebanon with Jordanian electricity and transferring Egyptian gas to help the crises-hit country plagued by chronic power cuts for decades.

Khasawneh arrived in Beirut Wednesday night on a visit aimed at showing solidarity with Lebanon, which is reeling from its worst economic and financial crisis in history, amid severe food, fuel and medicine shortages and power outages that have paralyzed normal life in the country.

Fuel and power shortages are one of the most acute symptoms of Lebanon’s economic collapse, paralyzing the economy and vital services like hospitals.

Khasawneh met separately with President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, with talks focusing on several topics of concern between the two countries, in addition to the assistance provided by Jordan to Lebanon to confront the crippling economic crisis.

Khasawneh pointed out that his visit to Lebanon with a ministerial delegation is a solidarity visit, after the formation of the new government, to find out about the urgent needs and how Jordan can help, especially in energy and security.

The Jordanian PM’s visit came three weeks after energy ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon agreed during a meeting in Amman a plan to bring gas and electricity to Lebanon. Egypt’s Minister for Oil and Mines Tarek al-Molla said that his country would “be ready to transfer gas (to Lebanon) as soon as possible” via the transnational Arab Gas Pipeline.

But damage to the pipeline and electricity lines during the decade of civil war in Syria means that energy supplies cannot start flowing before repairs are carried out. In the push to help revive the battered Lebanese economy, the US has given rare approval for the Arab neighbors to escape punishment under sanctions targeting the Syrian regime.

Former Lebanese Energy Minister Raymond Ghajar said the country needed “600 million cubic meters (21 billion cubic feet) of gas to provide 450 megawatts of electricity”. The gas pipeline linking Jordan and Syria was hit in August 2020 in a blast dubbed a “terrorist act” by Damascus.

Khasawneh said that Jordan is conducting intensive talks with both Egypt and Syria in order to complete arrangements for securing Egyptian gas to Lebanon, and that the results so far are more than positive, according to a statement issued by the presidency’s media office.

“Jordan carries out intensive talks with Egypt and Syria to finalize arrangements for securing Egyptian gas to Lebanon. The results are more than positive,” Khasawneh told reporters after his meeting with Aoun at Baabda Palace.

The possibility of providing Lebanon with electricity from Jordan was also discussed, where Khasawneh indicated that work is underway to reform the electricity network in some Syrian regions to be able to achieve this goal, and “This process may not take more than 3 months”.

Recalling Jordanian King Abdullah II’s speech at the UN General Assembly last week in support of Lebanon, Khasawneh said: “Our support for Lebanon is continuous, and we seek and work toward several practical measures which will meet some urgent and necessary needs which Lebanon wants.”

Noting that he was accompanied by a group of ministers, especially in the energy and electricity fields, he said: “We stressed our full readiness to secure all requirements which Lebanon needs, and which we will spare no effort to support, as we have always done under the leadership of his majesty the king.”

Among other things, Aoun discussed with Khasawneh ongoing preparations for the transfer of Egyptian gas to Lebanon via Jordan and Syria.

Aoun pointed out that Lebanon looks forward to strengthening official meetings between Jordan and Syria and the return of flights between Amman and Damascus, “which contributes to facilitating the opening of the Arab depth in our country.”

In welcoming the reopening of the Jaber crossing between Jordan and Syria, Aoun wished that all necessary facilities would be provided to Lebanese trucks transporting Lebanese agricultural goods, by land, to some Gulf countries.

After chairing their countries’ delegations to the talks, Mikati and Khasawneh spoke at a joint news conference at the Grand Serail. Ministers from both countries also met to discuss cooperation in the energy and electricity fields.

Mikati said the Jordanian PM’s visit was an “expression of solidarity and brotherhood with Lebanon and the Lebanese people.” He thanked Jordan for standing by Lebanon’s side during times of crises.

Khasawneh said Jordan was committed to supporting Lebanon’s stability. He said the talks with Mikati centered on ways to “accelerate the transfer of Egyptian gas to Lebanon to cope with some energy and electricity challenges in Lebanon, in addition to the talks linked to efforts with some our brothers in the region aimed at supplying Lebanon with some electricity needs from the Jordanian kingdom.”

“We, in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, are concerned, like our concern with the national Jordanian causes, with supporting Lebanon’s stability and restoring its revival,” he added.

IMF NEGOTIATORS

Meanwhile, matching words with deeds and reflecting its intention to quickly begin talks with the International Monetary Fund, the government Thursday issued a decision officially setting up a ministerial team to negotiate with the IMF on a bailout package to rescue the country from its worst economic depression in since the 1975-90 Civil War.

The decision to form a ministerial committee to negotiate with the IMF was issued following an agreement between Aoun and Mikati, said a statement released by the PM’s s media office.

At the president’s instructions and since Lebanon had to complete the negotiations with the IMF in tandem with drawing up and implementing a financial and economic recovery plan, the president has tasked the delegation [committee] to negotiate with the IMF, the statement said.

Headed by Deputy Premier Saadeh Shami, the delegation includes Finance Minister Youssef Khalil, Economy and Trade Minister Amin Salam and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh. When the need arises, the delegation will include other ministers and seek assistance from specialized experts according to topics or files to be proposed in the course of negotiations, the statement added.

A ministerial source said Mikati can head the team whenever he wants and that contacts between the Lebanese team and senior IMF experts will begin within three weeks.

The decision to form a team to negotiate with the IMF was taken by the Cabinet Wednesday during its first session since it gained a confidence vote from Parliament last week.

Resuming stalled talks with the IMF has been a major demand by France and international donors, who have linked their promised aid to the debt-ridden nation to the implementation of a string of essential and structural reforms to revitalize the crumbling economy and save Lebanon from an unprecedented economic meltdown, described by the World Bank as one of the world’s worst since the 1850s, posing the gravest threat to the country’s stability since the Civil War.

Lebanon began talks with the IMF on a $10 billion bailout package in May 2020, but the negotiations broke down after a dispute between different interest groups representing Lebanese banks and the government over the size of losses in the Central Bank.

Among the conditions set by the IMF is the lifting of subsidies on all essential items, Parliament’s approval of a capital control law, a unified currency exchange rate, restructuring of the public debt, restructuring of the banking sector, a forensic audit of the Central Bank’s accounts, curbing cross-border smuggling with Syria, overhauling the ailing electricity sector and streamlining the bloated public sector.