Lebanon’s minister of industry on Friday issued an order barring factories from producing certain goods using state-subsidised flour.
The decision, first reported by Lebanon’s National News Agency, will only allow bakeries that produce the pocketed flatbread known as “pita” or “Arabic bread” — a staple food item in the majority of Lebanese households — to purchase subsidised flour.
It is an apparent bid by the government to keep the staple bread’s prices as low as possible while the nation weathers a severe economic crisis and chronic shortages.
As Lebanon’s economy has collapsed, the value of its national currency has plummeted, inflation has soared and nearly 80 per cent of its population is now impoverished.
Acute shortages of medicine, oil, electricity and flour have further exacerbated a bleak situation.
“They want to conserve as much flour as possible to save the bread,” said Ali Ibrahim, head of the Syndicate of Bread Owners. “To make sure it will stay.”
Maintaining subsidies for flour used to make flatbread while flour for other products such as pastries and baguettes is sold at the market rate indicates the looming possibility worsening bread shortages as summer approaches.
“All mills in Lebanon have to stop delivering subsidised flour to the factories mentioned, or make them pay for the difference in price to the central bank,” the decision, published by the state news agency, read.
The central bank has continued to subsidise wheat imports at 1,507.5 Lebanese lira, despite the currency losing more than 90 per cent of its value.
But maintaining the subsidy has not kept bread prices down, as Lebanon’s inflation continues to soar and bakeries must pay for the cost of other ingredients and equipment in dollars or at the black market rate.
When the Lebanese currency began to unravel from the dollar in 2019, the prices of most goods and services rose out of necessity, with importers paying in dollars.
Although flatbread is cheaper than most goods, its cost has periodically risen over the past three years. Updated prices published by the Ministry of Economy this week show that a family-sized bundle package of flatbread now costs 16,000 lira (about $.50).
Before the economic crisis, the same amount of bread cost 1,500 lira.
On Thursday, Lebanon’s state news agency reported that flour shortages in the southern city of Nabatiyeh had caused long queues in front of bakeries, while on the black market flatbread was being sold for as high as 30,000 lira ($1.00).
The global wheat supply shortage caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also affected bread prices, as the majority of Lebanon’s wheat imports come from the Black Sea region.
Earlier this month, the World Bank approved a $150 million soft loan for wheat imports in an attempt to stabilise bread bundles at subsidised prices.
Lebanon's Minister of Economy and Trade Amin Salam told The National this month that the loan came at a time when the country “cannot take any instability in wheat” inflow.
Mr Ibrahim, the head of the bread owners' syndicate, agreed that stabilising Lebanon’s bread prices was a national priority.
“We are trying to protect the price of Arabic bread for the sake of the people.”
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
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Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
More on Palestine-Israeli relations
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
Skoda Superb Specs
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Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Need to know
Unlike other mobile wallets and payment apps, a unique feature of eWallet is that there is no need to have a bank account, credit or debit card to do digital payments.
Customers only need a valid Emirates ID and a working UAE mobile number to register for eWallet account.
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
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Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
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Chelsea 1
Azpilicueta (36')
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The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
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Engine: 3.5-litre V6
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The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
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Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
1971: The Year The Music Changed Everything
Director: Asif Kapadia
4/5