Lebanon, Syria and Jordan have reached a deal to transfer electricity to Lebanon which is suffering an acute energy crisis, ministers from the three neighboring countries said on Thursday.
The World Bank, which attended a joint meeting for the participating countries, will finance the granting of a loan to import and transport electricity to Lebanon, the country's energy minister Walid Fayad said.
"The Americans have given the green light to the project," he added, referring to US sanctions on Syria.
Under an agreement announced last month, Egypt will supply natural gas to Lebanon via a pipeline that passes through Jordan and Syria to help boost Lebanon’s electricity output.
Syrian electricity minister Ghassan al Zamel said his country's network rehabilitation would be completed by the end of the year, with engineers already undertaking maintenance and repairing damage caused by over a decade of conflict.
"The electricity line is not ready. It needs until the end of the year to be ready and our work teams are working round the clock," Zamel said.