Lebanon Asks U.S. for Wheat and Cooking Oil Donations

The government has asked Economy Minister Amin Salam to intensify his foreign contacts to secure essential food stocks in order to enable the country to face the food security crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine, media reports said on Friday.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati has promised to help Salam in his endeavor to obtain wheat and cooking oil donations, especially from the United States, after other countries refrained from offering any promises in this regard due to their local markets’ need for these resources, ad-Diyar newspaper reported.

“The Economy Minister has submitted a written request in this regard to U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea, who promised to follow up on the file without offering decisive pledges in this regard, pending a response from the U.S. administration to the Lebanese request,” the daily added.

Ministerial sources meanwhile expected “food security and social chaos and turbulence in the country” should Lebanon’s importation capacity drop as a result of the failure to secure donations amid the scarcity of foreign currency reserves.