Lebanon raises customs Dollar by threefold as government struggles with financial woes

The decision was made due to the lack of funds available to the government, with the state's account, known as Account 36, becoming severely depleted. As a result, the government needed to find ways to generate more revenue, and increasing the customs dollar was seen as an essential measure to achieve this goal.

Moreover, the government recently approved a series of incentives for the public sector to end their strikes, and securing funding for these incentives has become a top priority. It is worth noting that public sector salaries have not been paid yet for March.

Customs officials have stated that the customs dollar rate will fluctuate based on the parallel market exchange rate. However, without a clear reform plan to secure dollar revenues for the government, decisions such as raising customs fees will continue to be futile, especially with the increasing value of the dollar and the depreciation of the Lebanese pound, which will result in further erosion of public sector salaries.