Fresh bread in a Beirut bakery on July 1, 2020. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — The price of bread rose on Thursday, four days after the parliamentary election, as the Lebanese lira continues to depreciate against the dollar on the parallel market, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• According to the new prices published by the Economy Ministry, a family bundle package of white bread of 1,095 grams now costs LL16,000, a 13.24 percent increase in the per-gram price. The price of a large package increased by 12.6 percent in the per-gram price, reaching LL13,000 for a weight of 855 grams. The small package of 388 grams increased in the per-gram price by 13.4 percent, as it reached a price of LL8,000.
• According to the NNA, the price increase is linked to that of fuel prices, which directly influences the cost of production of flour, bread and transport. These factors are added to the rise in the price of wheat in international markets due to the Russian war in Ukraine. Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on Feb. 24, Lebanon has been severely impacted since these two countries were two of the primary sources of its wheat imports.
• This increase was anticipated the day following the elections, as the president of the syndicate of bakery Ali Ibrahim had announced that there were only "three days of flour stocks.” Economy Minister Amin Salam for his part said on Wednesday that the subsidies on bread will not be lifted.
• Fuel, from which subsidies were largely lifted last summer, experienced two sharp increases on Wednesday and Thursday while queues returned at gas stations across Lebanon since the beginning of the week. Queues also formed in front of some bakeries, while some traders in Nabatiyeh starting selling a package of bread for 30,000 LL on the parallel market, the NNA reported.