MP Gebran Bassil proposed a parliament recommendation to boost assistance during the heavy wheat crisis, which has been forcing the people to wait in lines for long hours in front of bakeries to get their bread.
Bassil’s suggestion was welcomed by PM Najib Mikati, and rejected by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri who claimed that the lifting of subsidies isn’t one of the parliament’s responsibilities.
The discussion took place during Tuesday’s parliament session, ending eventually with the parliament voting for a wheat loan of $150 million from the World Bank.
This decision is supposed to aggressively raise the price of bread to approximately LBP 35,000 per bundle.
The Economy Minister, Amin Salam, commented that “the Lebanese deserve to have a program to protect them,” stressing that “the mechanism for implementing the loan will start in the coming week.”
“When we start working by this loan, there will be more comfort in the sector, direct insurance of funds, and more social safety,” Salam noted.
Related: Lebanese Parliament Convened In Its First Legislative Session, Here’s What We Know.
