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Power Crisis Stifles the Lebanese Amid Lack of Feasible Solutions

Zouk Power Station is seen in Zouk, north of Beirut, Lebanon March 27, 2019. Picture taken March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Zouk Power Station is seen in Zouk, north of Beirut, Lebanon March 27, 2019. Picture taken March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Power Crisis Stifles the Lebanese Amid Lack of Feasible Solutions

Zouk Power Station is seen in Zouk, north of Beirut, Lebanon March 27, 2019. Picture taken March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Zouk Power Station is seen in Zouk, north of Beirut, Lebanon March 27, 2019. Picture taken March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Lebanon’s electricity crisis severely worsened over the past few days, with power outages extending to 20 hours per day even in the capital.

Many generator owners have raised the monthly tariff because of the high cost of diesel and reduced subscription hours, which drowned several areas in total darkness that was only broken by candlelight.

The electricity crisis prompted a number of stores, especially small ones, to stop buying food commodities that need a refrigerator.

Minister of Energy Raymond Ghajar said that power rationing was due to the lack of fuel, citing “judicial reasons” behind the delay of delivery by fuel ships.

In response, member of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and electricity expert Mohammed Basbous stressed that the ministry was required to provide further information on the matter.

“It’s surprising that we currently face an electricity crisis, especially since the Algerian Sonatrach company announced that it would commit to supplying Lebanon with the amount of fuel it needs and would refrain from renewing the contract at the end of the year,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“The electricity crisis was supposed to start at the end of the year and not now, if no alternatives were found,” he emphasized.

Basbous asked about the reason why additional quantities were not brought from the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, which has a similar contract to that of Sonatrach with the Lebanese state.

The Minister of Energy had announced that Iraq intended to supply Lebanon with fuel in exchange for food, Lebanese commodities and medicine. But Basbous stressed that this was not a feasible solution, due to the scarcity of food in the country, as factories were struggling to maintain their operation amid a severe financial and economic crisis.

The PSP member underlined that the lack of fuel and its high price were due to smuggling, as there are “lines of trucks that leave daily from the refineries and go directly to the border with Syria.”

He noted that the only solution was a government decision to immediately launch the comprehensive reform process, starting from the electricity and fuel issue, in addition to controlling cross-border smuggling.

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Japan’s Economy Shrinks as US Tariff Hit Looms 

The Tokyo Dome (L-white roof) and the Tokyo Skytree (back R) are pictured from the high-rise business district of Shinjuku on a hazy day in central Tokyo on May 16, 2025. (AFP)
The Tokyo Dome (L-white roof) and the Tokyo Skytree (back R) are pictured from the high-rise business district of Shinjuku on a hazy day in central Tokyo on May 16, 2025. (AFP)
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Japan’s Economy Shrinks as US Tariff Hit Looms 

The Tokyo Dome (L-white roof) and the Tokyo Skytree (back R) are pictured from the high-rise business district of Shinjuku on a hazy day in central Tokyo on May 16, 2025. (AFP)
The Tokyo Dome (L-white roof) and the Tokyo Skytree (back R) are pictured from the high-rise business district of Shinjuku on a hazy day in central Tokyo on May 16, 2025. (AFP)

Japan's economy shrank for the first time in a year in the March quarter, data showed on Friday, underscoring the fragile nature of its recovery now under threat from US President Donald Trump's trade policies.

The data highlights the challenge policymakers face as steep US tariffs cloud the outlook for the export-heavy economy, particularly for the mainstay automobiles sector.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted an annualized 0.7% in January-March, preliminary government data showed, much bigger than a median market forecast for a 0.2% drop.

It followed a revised 2.4% increase in the previous quarter. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy shrank 0.2% compared with market forecasts for a 0.1% contraction.

Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan's economic output, was flat in the first quarter, compared with market forecasts for a 0.1% gain.

Capital expenditure increased 1.4% compared with market forecasts for a 0.8% gain, the data showed.

External demand, or net exports, shaved 0.8 percentage point off GDP growth, the data showed. Analysts polled by Reuters expected external demand, or shipments minus imports, to have shaved 0.6 point off GDP growth.

A global trade war touched off by Trump's sweeping tariffs has jolted financial markets and complicated the Bank of Japan's decision on when and how far it can push up interest rates.

Having exited a decade-long stimulus last year, the BOJ hiked rates to 0.5% in January and has signaled its readiness to keep hiking borrowing costs if a moderate economic recovery keeps Japan on track to durably hit its 2% inflation target.

But fears of a Trump-induced global slowdown forced the BOJ to sharply cut its growth forecasts at its April 30-May 1 policy meeting, and cast doubt on its view that sustained wage hikes will underpin consumption and the broader economy.

While a de-escalation of US-China trade tensions offered markets and policymakers some relief, there is uncertainty on whether Japan can win exemptions from US tariffs in bilateral trade talks with Washington.

The gloomy GDP data may also pile pressure on Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to heed lawmakers' demands to cut tax or compile a fresh stimulus package.