People line up to buy bread at a bakery in the Bekaa. (Credit: Sarah Abdullah/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Long lines again formed in front of bakeries on Tuesday due to the depletion of subsidized flour stocks, L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the Bekaa reported.
Here’s what we know:
• According to our correspondent in the region, the majority of bakeries have stopped selling Arabic bread and kept their stores open for the sale of other products. Distribution of flour in the Bekaa has been suspended since the beginning of the month, according to our correspondent, which has aggravated the bread crisis and led to the formation of long lines in front of bakeries.
• The owner of Chamsine bakeries, Ahmad al-Kadri told L’Orient Today that his businesses did not receive their share of subsidized flour for the month of June, which forced him to close his branches in Bednayel, Ksara and Baalbeck.
• Queues in front of bakeries have become a regular sight in recent weeks. Food security has been in struggle in Lebanon following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, from where the country imports nearly 70 percent of its wheat. On Friday, caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam affirmed that the subsidies on wheat will be maintained. In May, the World Bank approved a $ 150 million emergency loan to import wheat into Lebanon. The question of the removal of wheat subsidies and how they relate to the project remains unclear, leading many to fear a lifting of subsidies on bread and consequently stockpiling bread and its component products. The World Bank loan still has to be approved by Parliament.