Fresh bread in a Beirut bakery on July 1, 2020. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — The World Bank confirmed to L'Orient Today on Monday that it has approved a $150 million emergency loan to import wheat into Lebanon.
Here’s what we know:
• Earlier Monday Economy Minister Amin Salam announced on that he had received official approval from the World Bank’s board of directors for the $150 million emergency loan.
• Lebanon, which was already suffering from an unprecedented economic crisis, is also suffering the repercussions of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent disruptions in the wheat exports from these two countries, which are Lebanon’s two main suppliers of the grain.
• In a press conference on Monday, Salam said, “I received the official approval this morning, from the World Bank’s board of directors.”
• Salam added, “We want to reassure the Lebanese that we still have portions of wheat which Banque Du Liban is still subsidizing … This means that during the period in which we will be working for the Lebanese side to approve the World Bank loan, we will have subsidized wheat.”
• According to Salam, before being implemented, this agreement must still be approved by the cabinet “and submitted to the new Parliament .” Lebanon is set to hold its parliamentary elections on Sunday.
• During the press conference Salam also said that the “World Bank’s head of the board of directors told him that Lebanon is the first country to receive an emergency loan for its food security.”
• On April 14, the Lebanese cabinet decided to allocate $15 million of its International Monetary Fund Special Drawing Rights to wheat imports.