The Treasurer of the Lebanese Poultry Syndicate William Boutros regretted in a statement the decision taken by the government to halt subsidy disbursement for the poultry sector.

He said that decision will impact the sector and citizens negatively.

Boutros revealed that major poultry producers have been notified by the Central bank that subsidy disbursement will be suspended.

He emphasized that the decision will increase the production costs, the prices, and will damage the production cycle of a basic food sector that totally meets the local market needs, despite all the obstacles that it faces.

Boutros added: “We were surprised by the lack of coordination with the poultry producers, who were relying on the government strategy to support the productive sectors amid the economic and financial crises that Lebanon is going through”. He added that the government’s support should focus on all productive sectors, especially the poultry sector, which is one of the main pillars of food security for the Lebanese.

Boutros stressed that if providing more subsidies is impossible currently, then the government should take urgently a series of measures to preserve and protect the sector. These measures would include  raising customs tariffs to become equivalent to its actual value that was in place before the national currency collapse.