Workers prepareing bread at a bakery in Lebanon. (Credit:File Photo/AFP)
The prices of different packages of Arabic bread rose again on Tuesday due to the record depreciation of the Lebanese national currency.
The lira has been trading at more than LL80,000 on the dollar on the parallel market since last week. This is the eighth increase in bread prices since the beginning of the year and the fifth increase in February alone.
According to a statement issued Tuesday by the Economy Ministry, the smallest package is now 344 grams and is sold for LL18,000, up from LL17,000 for 343 grams last Wednesday.
The average-sized bread package is now 823 grams and costs LL31,000, up from 832 grams for LL29,000. Finally, the large package, which now weighs 1,024 grams, is sold at LL 37,000, up from 1,052 grams for LL 35,000.
For several months, the ministry has justified these price increases by citing the soaring cost of fuel after the 2022 abolition of gas subsidies, the rate of the dollar against the Lebanese lira on the parallel market, and the global price of wheat, which has increased since the beginning of the war in Ukraine last February.