The Bakers Syndicate in Libya warned that wheat stocks are about to run out, amid rising prices of bread and other food commodities.
Head of the Bakers Syndicate, Khreis Muhammad, warned that bakers only have a one-month supply of wheat stock left.
“We had warned three years ago that there is no strategic stock of wheat and that bakers are obtaining their needs of flour through merchants,” he said.
Head of the Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibeh had toured various bakeries to assess the situation and suggested providing governmental support, Muhammad said.
He proposed that the government subsidize each wheat shipment with $190 provided that the bakers buy flour at 110 dinars and thus, a packet of ten loaves of bread would be sold for one dinar.
However, Muhammad said the bakers did not agree to the plan because it does not cover the cost of their work.
He added that the Syndicate has agreed with the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy to assign a committee to examine the actual cost of a loaf of bread.
Libya had never witnessed a wheat shortage under the rule of former president Moammar al-Gaddafi when a packet of 20 loaves of bread was sold for one dinar.
Early this month, Economy Minister Mohammed Al-Hawij ordered setting the prices of some commodities, including bread flour, sugar, rice and canned tomatoes. Prices included 190 dinars for a quintal of flour for bakeries and 2 dinars for a flour kilogram.
However, the minister later cancelled the decision due to the increase of the price of bread production. Instead, he said the Ministry will prepare a weekly bulletin that includes monitoring and following up on the prices of imported goods in the local market.
