Lebanon's state-run energy company Electricite du Liban (EDL) has raised the price of electricity for the first time since the 1990s, officials said, paving the way for a possible increase in electricity supplies, Reuters reported.

Lebanon has had no 24-hour electricity supply since the 1990s, and cash transfers to the EDL to cover chronic losses have added tens of billions of dollars to the country's huge national debt. Electricity sector reform is a key demand of donor countries, which have pledged to help Lebanon out of its financial crisis if it implements reforms.

Government officials said an increase in the price of electricity would allow the state to buy more fuel for power plants, thereby increasing the supply from one or two hours a day to 10 hours a day.

Electricity will now cost 10 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the first 100 kWh consumed and 27 cents per kWh for consumption above that amount, according to an EDL spokesman.

The new electricity costs will be calculated in Lebanese pounds using the central bank exchange rate on the Sayrafa platform, which was about 30,000 pounds to the U.S. dollar on Tuesday.

The price of public electricity in Lebanese pounds was previously equivalent to about $1 per 1 kWh.