The newspaper Al-Akhbar revealed today the intention of Minister of Economy Raoul Nehme to prepare for a price increase of the bread bundle to reach 3000 lira, "with an official announcement expected next week."
Al-Akhbar mentioned that the justification for the price increase is always present: "the global increase in wheat prices and the rise in the dollar's value, which affects the 15% paid by importers from the wheat price, as well as the prices of other components involved in bread production. This time, there may be a new reason, which is the removal of subsidies on sugar, leading to additional costs for bakeries." In just a few months, the Minister of Economy has doubled the price of the "Arabic bread" bundle, despite the fact that wheat is still subsidized at a price of 1500 lira. This wheat is used to produce other products not officially priced, providing huge profit margins for the bakery cartel, which the Minister of Economy protects instead of tightening oversight on it, given the fundamental importance of bread in people's lives. Wheat subsidies are the least costly among all other subsidized goods, with slightly more than 100 million dollars paid by the Central Bank of Lebanon to support this material. In contrast, the bank pays about three billion dollars to subsidize fuel, which benefits the wealthy more than the poor.
The newspaper noted, "White bread for the poor is therefore a strategic commodity; harming it is an attack on the social security of the people. This is in general, but how can the situation be if unemployment rates are steadily rising and the purchasing power even for those who have maintained their income is collapsing? All this is unimportant to the Minister of Economy. What matters is that he has decided. In the manner of Minister of Health Hamad Hassan, his decision is sovereign. However, he does not appreciate its repercussions."
Meanwhile, in a related context, the National News Agency today reported the strong denial by Georges Barbar, the Director General of Grain at the Ministry of Economy and Trade, of the matter being circulated, stressing that this news has no basis in logic or calculations and falls within the category of malicious rumors.
