beirut feb 3 reuters  lebanons cabinet said it would apply the central banks sayrafa platforms exchange rate to customs transactions for imports in the 2022 budget the acting information minister said at a news conference the exchange rate on the platform on wednesday was 21100 lebanese pounds per dollar the cabinet would exempt food and medicine imports from any new fees or charges minister abbas halabi said after a meeting where the cabinet continued studying the 2022 draft budget an advance for the stateowned power company would be put on hold until the cabinet approves a reform plan to the energy sector the draft budget has included an advance of up to a maximum of 525 trillion pounds for électricité du liban edl the lebanese cabinet has been meeting since last month to discuss the draft budget lebanon is mired in a financial crisis caused by a mountain of debt leaving the country struggling to find enough foreign exchange to pay for basic imports and fuel causing an acute power shortage