Title: No Lifting of Bread Subsidy Without Alternative Plan

The Minister of Economy and Trade in the caretaker government, Amin Salam, affirmed that "the issue of bread is managed in a studied manner, and I have previously rejected lifting the subsidy on bread without an alternative plan." In a statement to "Voice of Lebanon," Salam revealed that "the duration of the World Bank loan ranges from nine months to a year, which is linked to global wheat prices," adding, "We are working on putting an alternative plan to implement after the loan period ends." He emphasized that "the Ministry of Economy is still fulfilling its role regarding oversight, and thousands of reports of violations have been transferred from the ministry to the competent judiciary to hold accountable the traders manipulating the citizens' livelihoods." He noted that "I have previously requested the Parliament to make minor amendments to the Consumer Protection Law concerning the cost of fines and to transfer the authority of the judicial police to the Ministry of Economy to be able to impose stricter penalties," pointing out that "the economy is still unstable, and chaos exists in the market, despite the stability of the dollar exchange rate."