The latest on the payments of the customs duty

Before this date, 100 percent of the fees were paid from the company's account to the customs account at the Banque du Liban (BDL) through the companies' funds trapped in the bank.

Therefore, as a trader in one of these three sectors, you have to carry the cash with you and go to BDL to do the following scenario:

First, in the fuel sector, the daily need of the local gasoline market is 10 million liters, equivalent to 500 thousand tanks. Its fees and taxes amount to roughly 70 billion Lebanese pounds.

For example, under the new decision, the trader must carry cash totaling over 52 billion and 500 million Lebanese pounds (equivalent to 70 percent).

Moreover, the companies that buy from importers will be directly affected because some clients who previously used to pay the importer once every one to two weeks must now make daily payments.

Second, the citizen will feel the decision's consequences more quickly in the automobile sector.

Previously, the traders used to collect payment from the client for the cost of the commodity in two different ways: cash and bank check, which they would then transfer into the customs account.

Right now, the trader will have to collect the entire sum in cash, and some may decide to raise the price of commodities to get the money they need to pay BDL.

However, ministerial sources said the traders were carrying large sums of cash to the banks to convert them on Sayrafa, confirming that the pretext of security is unrealistic.

These sources also claimed that the decision must be implemented to take the enormous monetary mass from the market.