Lebanon’s Parliament votes to spend World Bank loan on wheat

KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese lawmakers have voted to use a $150 million World Bank loan to import wheat for its cash-strapped country. The parliamentary vote on Tuesday is aimed at stabilizing bread prices for at least the next six months. Lebanon, already mired in an economic crisis that pulled three-quarters of its population into poverty, faces a deepening food security crisis. The country once subsidized wheat imports to keep bread prices affordable, but it is struggling to continue doing so in the throes of a crippling economic crisis.