All roads lead to tightening the system's grip tighter on the citizens' necks. Even a morsel of bread, dipped in the "humiliation" of queues, may not enter the stomachs of the hungry anymore without "mafia" permission. The "scarcity" naturally breeds "pecking," so what happens when the coveted item is a loaf of bread that has become the difference between life and "death by hunger" for a large percentage of citizens. Under the pretext of addressing problems, "the influential references are extending their hands over the file, seeking to mediate with the bakeries affiliated with them to obtain bread in quantities beyond the specified limits," according to following sources. This leads to the emergence of party and regional "food facilitation" cards, transforming the official financial card into a "thing of the past."
Nothing indicates relief in the bread situation in the near future. Domestically, bakery closures continue, whether justly or unjustly, while demand sees a growing increase. The union of bakeries clarified in a statement that it "needs to increase its production percentage to match the growing demand resulting from the presence of more than 700,000 tourists on one hand, and from the increased demand for Arabic bread due to the rise in the price of French bread and its derivatives after the removal of support for the flour designated for its production on the other hand."
Conversely, the Ministry of Economy has reduced the quantities of subsidized flour for white bread production to 17,000 tons monthly, without finding a sustainable solution for importing sufficient quantities of wheat. Meanwhile, the International Bank’s $150 million loan to support wheat remains suspended and has yet to see implementation, despite numerous promises. On the global scale, explosions that occurred two days ago in the city of Odessa by the Black Sea, a day after Kyiv and Moscow reached an agreement to resume Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea ports, have raised fears of the agreement being disrupted again or delayed in its implementation. This complication could increase pressure on countries that rely on Ukraine for wheat imports and lead to a rise in prices once more.
In light of these blocked prospects, both domestically and internationally, the Ministry of Economy continues to "proclaim" to citizens that there is no escape from lifting support for bread, provided the price does not exceed 1 dollar with direct support for those in greater need. Regardless of the ministry’s ability to monitor and control prices after completely lifting support, this process will exacerbate the citizens' tragedies. True, price hikes "have not stopped" at the bread bundle, and it’s also true that they have benefited a minority of monopolists and smugglers at the citizens' expense. However, lifting the support without alternatives would be catastrophic. "Alternatives are not at all the bogus ration cards promised to 500,000 families before the withdrawal of support that never arrived, nor the illusory wage subsidies, but by unifying the exchange rate and starting to implement the plan with the International Monetary Fund and making the necessary adjustments to wages," according to sources. "Apart from that, the 'trivial' dollar for some is 50% of the household income for nearly 70% of the Lebanese population."
