A woman leaves a bakery with a bag of bread as people wait their turn in the neighborhood of Nabaa on Aug. 13, amid a wave of shortages of basic items due to a severe economic crisis. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — Michael Hamati emerged from a long queue at a Beirut bakery, sweat dripping from his forehead, as Lebanon’s economic collapse sparks increasing shortages including over bread.
“There's nothing left in this country,” said the 72-year-old, as dozens of people clamored behind him in the simmering heat for their turn.
Lebanese flocked to bakeries before dawn on Friday, desperate to find affordable bread in a country where fuel and medicine are already in critically short supply.
The rush came after the central bank on Wednesday said it could no longer afford to subsidize fuel in Lebanon.
The country, struggling with political turmoil since 2019, has also been hit by what is likely one of the the worst global economic crises in 150 years, according to the World Bank.
At least 78 percent of the more than 6 million-strong population live below the poverty line, and businesses can barely stay afloat.
The lira lost more than 90 percent of its value against the US dollar on the black market in less than two years.
Many bakeries have already closed because they cannot afford the rising cost of fuel needed to power private generators as electricity cuts last for about 20 hours a day.
Those that remain open have rationed production to make the subsidized flour they receive from the state last longer, leading to shortages in stores and supermarkets.
Hamati arrived at a Beirut bakery early in the morning, bracing for a long wait.
“This is the first time I come to this bakery. There isn’t any bread left in stores,” he told AFP.
“Is there anything left at all” in Lebanon? he asked.
Queues from 3 a.m.
Lebanon has been gripped by a fuel crisis since the start of summer, with importers blaming shortages on a delay by the government in opening credit lines to fund imports.
The authorities have accused distributors of hoarding stock to sell it at higher rates on the black market or across the border in Syria.
“Bakeries don’t have the means to secure fuel oil ... and we don’t know if we will receive any” from the state, said Ali Ibrahim, who heads the bakery owners syndicate.
“They just give us enough for two days ... though bakeries and mills should be receiving enough for a month.”
In Beirut’s Nabaa area, Jacques al-Khoury looked flustered as he tried to organize a queue of dozens of people waiting outside his bakery for bread.
The line started as early as 3 a.m. — just as he started baking for the day.
“All the bakeries in this area have closed, and the pressure is all on me,” he said.
Khoury, 60, said he receives 36 tons of state subsidized flour a month — but with demand for bread increasing it lasts only a week.
In northern Tripoli, Lebanon’s poorest city, many bakeries have been forced to close while supermarkets have stopped selling bread.
‘Stale bread’
The few Tripoli bakeries that have remained open are also struggling to keep up with demand.
“We are rationing the amount of bread we distribute to stores,” an employee at one of the city’s largest bakeries said.
“We are providing them with half the usual amount.”
In one bakery in the southern city of Saida, residents were allowed to buy only one bag of flat white bread each.
According to the United Nations, food prices have increased by up to 400 percent.
The cost of a basic food basket for a single family is now five times the national minimum wage, the Crisis Observatory at the American University of Beirut has found.
“Once we’ve paid rent, we have no money left,” said Mohammad Abdul Qader, a pastry shop employee who needs to provide for five children.
He said food has become so expensive, he can no longer afford meat.
“I gaze at the butcher’s from a distance, and then go on my way,” he said.
“Yesterday, I ate stale bread” with onion and tomato.
BEIRUT — Michael Hamati emerged from a long queue at a Beirut bakery, sweat dripping from his forehead, as Lebanon’s economic collapse sparks increasing shortages including over bread.
“There's nothing left in this country,” said the 72-year-old, as dozens of people clamored behind him in the simmering heat for their turn.
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