Flour and fuel push up the cost of bread
Libya – Ali Bouazza, head of the Higher Committee for Monitoring Bakeries, said bakery fuel allocations had returned to normal but had not been enough for large bakeries even before the electricity crisis. In remarks to the Ab’ad platform, he said the price of a quintal of flour had jumped since January from 190 dinars to 350 dinars and more — a rise of 160 dinars.
Prices climb despite talk of subsidy
Bouazza added that flour had been available on the black market in January at 190 dinars, while it now stood at 280 dinars and was unavailable, despite talk of subsidy. He said that despite letters of credit for grain imports, the relevant authorities had allowed mills to sell the quintal with a 90-dinar increase, counted as subsidised for bakery owners and citizens.
Calls to regulate the market
He said he had written to the responsible authorities about rising bread-production costs and inputs of between 16% and 94% from the end of 2025 to April 2026. He argued that the bakery sector faced a wave of inflation across all production inputs, requiring urgent intervention to regulate the market and keep prices stable. Bouazza called for support for flour and basic goods prices, monitoring of input prices, facilities for bakeries and a review of bread pricing.
