Warning over rising food and fuel costs
LIBYA – Ali Al-Sharif, a professor of economics at the University of Benghazi and an economic analyst, has warned over the rise in the price of a quintal of flour to more than 400 dinars, describing it as a serious indicator affecting food security and Libyans’ livelihoods amid high prices and declining purchasing power. In a separate post, he also warned that the fuel bill was ballooning and nearing $1.5 billion a month.
A strategic reserve of wheat and flour
In a post on Facebook, Al-Sharif said confronting these indicators requires urgent action, starting with building a strategic reserve of basic commodities, chief among them wheat and flour, to ensure stable supplies and ease price fluctuations.
A safety net for low-income groups
He called for food security measures to form part of a social safety net that ensures basic goods reach citizens, especially those on low incomes, at affordable prices, away from what he described as the haphazard and corrupt management of subsidies.
He stressed that food security is a foundation of social and economic stability, warning that delays in addressing the problem could raise the cost of solving it and leave citizens bearing the consequences of the imbalances.
Fuel bill and pressure on salary payments
In another post, Al-Sharif said the fuel bill was rising day after day and approaching one and a half billion dollars a month, warning that, in his estimation, this burden could put the state’s ability to pay salaries at risk.
