Prison food: Suppliers demand cash payments or threaten to halt deliveries

The providers responsible for supplying meals and food products to Lebanese prisons are threatening to suspend their deliveries starting at the end of July if the state does not quickly pay them the money it owes, in cash and in advance, as was done until recently, the official National News Agency (NNA) reported Wednesday.

In a statement addressed to the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), the suppliers denounced the lack of funds to cover the amounts owed to them as of July 31, 2025. They lamented that their request for an additional 75 billion Lebanese pounds to cover payments for May and June has gone unanswered. "In response, the Finance Ministry proposed to make payments to the ISF in the form of bank transfers. This is a solution we cannot accept," they said.

The suppliers cited payment delays of several months due to administrative routines, but also their fear of another collapse of the Lebanese pound and a rise in prices.

"Once invoices are issued, they take about a month to be signed by the director general, then are sent to the Finance Ministry, where processing takes more than three months," they lamented.

They also expressed fear of a new depreciation of the Lebanese pound, recalling the heavy losses suffered during the previous financial crisis when the value of their capital plummeted due to the fall of the national currency.

"If our payments are not made in cash, we simply risk bankruptcy," they warned, threatening to follow through on their warning if no solution is found.

Since the collapse of the Lebanese pound in October 2019, Lebanon has seen the rise of an economy operating primarily in cash, fueled by mistrust of banks that have been paralyzed for five years. This is a reality authorities are attempting to reverse, so far without result.