Lebanon’s Economy Minister Amin Salam says the World Bank has approved a $150 million loan to finance the country’s wheat imports, and a World Bank spokesperson has yet to respond to a request for comment.
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The World Bank agrees to lend Lebanon $150 million to support wheat imports
Lebanon’s Economy Minister Amin Salam told Archyde.com on Monday that the World Bank had approved a $150 million loan to finance the country’s wheat imports and maintain stable bread prices for nine months.
Salam added that the project, which is called the emergency response to wheat supplies to Lebanon, still needs the approval of the Council of Ministers and Parliament.
A World Bank spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lebanon is highly dependent on food imports, which are paid for in dollars, which are now hard to come by since the economic collapse of 2019.
Since then, the Lebanese pound has lost regarding 90 percent of its value, while food prices have increased by more than 11-fold, according to data from the World Food Program. The bread shortage was exacerbated by the military operation in Ukraine, which supplies most of Lebanon’s wheat needs, and Beirut’s inability to store wheat reserves since the destruction of its largest silos in the Beirut port explosion in 2020.
It is worth noting that the International Monetary Fund announced last month that it had reached Initial agreement with the Lebanese authorities A three-billion dollar aid plan over four years.
