A photo showing a graffiti with a child eating a piece of bread. (Credit: Phillipe Hage Boutros/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — While all eyes were on the series of bank holdups across Lebanon on Friday by depositors desperate to beg for a few scraps of their own savings, the Ministry of Economy and Trade published a new price list for Lebanese bread.
These prices had not been changed since May 30, as the caretaker Economy Minister, Amin Salam, said he wanted to preserve the food security of the Lebanese, whose purchasing power has been greatly reduced since the beginning of the crisis in the country three years ago.
Nevertheless, in its statement, the ministry justifies this new increase by quoting various factors, including the rise in fuel prices following the lifting of subsidies on gasoline by Banque du Liban, the parallel market exchange rate of the lira to the dollar — which has exceeded LL38,000 to the dollar since Thursday, or that of world wheat prices which have soared since the beginning of Russia's war on Ukraine in February.
According to this new pricing, the small package of Lebanese bread will now weigh 365 grams and will be sold at LL10,000, compared to LL7,000 per 370 grams previously. The medium pack will weigh 800 grams and will be sold for LL16,000, compared to LL12,000 for a pack of 875 grams previously. Finally, the large pack will weigh 1,065 grams for LL20,000, compared to LL14,000 for 1,055 grams previously.
An agreement has been reached for a $150 million World Bank loan to ensure Lebanon's food security through a continuous supply of wheat for nine months and to serve as a substitute for wheat subsidies (used to make Arab bread) to contain any rise in bread prices. However, this agreement has not yet been disbursed. The text, amended by the Finance and Budget Committee and approved by the World Bank in early August, has not yet been voted by the Parliament, which finally met on Thursday to discuss the long-overdue budget for the year 2022.