The Bakery Owners Syndicate in Lebanon said in a statement that the owners of bakeries are bearing huge losses on daily basis due to the sharp rises in fuel prices, which are paid in US dollars in cash after securing it from the black market and at the popular price, knowing that the bread as well as other products are sold in Lebanese pounds.

The statement added: “It is known that there isn’t any country that set the prices of its goods in the in a currency which is not the national currency, and what is happening with us is a clear violation of the laws and the constitution.”

The syndicate called on the government to “correct the imbalance created by the state itself in the price of a bundle of bread as a result of the weekly rise in fuel prices, especially the fuel oil, knowing that there is an agreement between the Syndicate and the Ministry of Economy and Trade to reconsider every Wednesday the tariff of a bundle of bread, according to a schedule.”

Currently, two weeks have passed and this tariff was not considered, which has caused the owners of bakeries financial losses in light of the current economic conditions that have negatively affected all production institutions, including bakeries and ovens.

The syndicate stressed that “it would have been more useful for the state, which wants to secure the loaf for the working class and those with limited income, to continue subsidizing the fuels designated for bakeries and mills, and not make them bear the failure of its policies.”

The syndicate appealed to the Minister of Economy and Trade, “to sign the new tariff and issue it according to the schedule approved by the ministry as quickly as necessary to do justice to all and prevent bakeries from stopping work.”