Small and large bread bundle prices rose again on Thursday. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — The newly formed committee to “monitor and equitably distribute wheat and flour during the different stages” of bread production in Lebanon announced on Sunday that “the bread crisis is 90 percent over and queues [at bakeries] have disappeared.”
Here’s what we know:
• The committee, presided over by caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam and which includes representatives from municipalities, the Interior Ministry, the Interior Security Forces and Customs, conducted “an investigation in all Lebanese regions” from which they derived the figure.
• For several months, bakeries and flour mills have said they faced difficulties accessing subsidized flour and wheat, while Salam spoke in early July of flour and wheat smuggling and the existence of a black market for the resources.
• When the committee was formed, it announced plans to launch a tool monitoring wheat and flour in the country from “their arrival aboard ships at the port until the sale of bread at bakeries.”