Wheat imports delay could lead to bread flour shortage in east

By Sami Zaptia.

London, 10 February 2016:

The Ministry of Economy of the Abdullah Thinni government based in eastern Libya has written an . . .[restrict]urgent letter to the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) warning of an imminent bread shortage.

The letter dated 8 February and published yesterday urges the CBL to intervene directly in solving the backlog of Documentary Letters of Credit at banks for the import of wheat.

It warned that that the situation was on the verge of entering the danger zone anticipating the occurrence of a big problem in the supply of subsidized wheat for flour distributed to bakeries to maintain subsidized bread prices.

It further warned that this could negatively affect the stability of both the country and its citizens. It also warned that there is a common impression that the ‘’crises is fabricated’’ as it is not reasonable or logical to think that the issue of flour is dealt with in this passiveness and bureaucracy.

It is worth noting that the standard subsidized Libyan baguette has already shot up in price at bakeries from LD 0.05 per loaf to LD 0.25 per loaf. [/restrict]