Economy minister accuses private sector players of wheat 'theft'

BEIRUT — Caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam denounced on Friday “thefts” of subsidized wheat perpetrated by “certain private sector actors,” while Lebanon regularly experiences shortages of flour and bread.

Here’s what we know:

    • “The figures clearly show that there is theft of public funds from the private sector,” Salam said on the sidelines of a meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri at the latter’s residence in Ain al-Tineh.

    • He said that “some bakeries and some merchants personally benefit from the subsidized wheat,” such as in Nabatieh where a black market is active with packages of bread sold at more than double the official price.

    • Salam said Berri had assured him that “credits remain open for wheat subsidies,” and the economy ministry is “working on importing wheat shipments.”

    • Salam also said that a loan from the World Bank amounting to $150 million dollars to ensure food security in Lebanon is available, adding that a law on this subject will be presented to Parliament next week.

    • Berri assured that “there will be no delay” in this matter, adding that the credit line from the World Bank would make it possible to stabilize bread production for at least the next nine months.

    • “The current quantity of subsidized wheat present in Lebanon is sufficient for only a month and a half,” he said.

    • Workers from the bakeries’ union on Thursday morning blocked the road in front of the Serail in Tripoli, North Lebanon, to protest flour shortages, while the union in the South warned that merchants are selling expired flour, the state-run National News Agency reported.

    • The Russian invasion of Ukraine jeopardized Lebanon’s wheat supply, with between 67 and 95.1 percent of the country’s wheat imports coming from the Black Sea region, according to a 2019 study by British international development company Crown Agents. The crisis has also caused an international increase in grain prices.