Wheat crisis, Lebanese people have to buy bread at the black market

Mr. Karam Hassan Deeb is the owner of a long-standing bakery in Nabatieh, Lebanon. It is becoming more difficult to maintain the operation of the bakery these days due to the scarcity of input materials wheat.

Mr. Karam Hassan Deeb said: “People call me and say there is flour here, but the price is so high. I just had to buy it. The black market is like that.”

On the black market, the price of a bag bread now doubled, tripled the official price. However, due to the devaluation of Lebanon’s local currency, this price is now 25 times higher than the price of 2019. For those who have not been adjusted for wages, that means paying more than 20 USD ( about 460,000 VND) for a bag of bread.

Bakeries are becoming more difficult due to the scarcity of input materials such as wheat. (Photo: Middle East Eye)

Mr. Jaafaar Bassar, a Lebanese resident, said: “Now it is very difficult to find bread. I have had to buy it on the black market for the past few days, and the price is not cheap. Sometimes it is up to 90% of households. Families here have to buy bread on the black market because bakeries and supermarkets are all in short supply.”

Previously, 90% of the wheat that Lebanon consumed was imported from Ukraine. However, the Russia-Ukraine conflict have tightened supply, forcing importers to find other sources and often many times more expensive. Meanwhile, an explosion in the port of Beirut in August 2020 leveled the country’s largest grain vaults. In addition, the ongoing economic crisis also makes it more difficult for the Lebanese Government to subsidize bread.

* Invite readers to watch the programs broadcast by Vietnam Television on TV Online and VTVGo!