ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Nearly 500 bakeries have shut their doors in and around Erbil city in the past three months because of high flour and fuel prices, a member of the bakers’ association told Rudaw. The mayor said they will subsidize prices to ease the burden on the bakeries. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has decided to give bakeries a 20 percent discount on their electricity bills and “the ministry of natural resources will provide them with cheap fuel,” Erbil Mayor Nabaz Abdulhamid told Rudaw Radio on Saturday. On Thursday, Jamshir Mushir, a member of Erbil’s bakers’ association, told Rudaw that nearly 500 bakeries have been closed in the past three months because of high costs. "The government used to support us a lot, providing 400 litres of fuel per month, but it doesn’t give us anything now,” he said. Authorities told him on Thursday, he said, that they will begin working on the issue this week. Fuel prices rose earlier this year because of devaluation of the dinar, taxes, and fuel monopolies. The cost of imported flour has also increased. Prices spiked internationally in August after the US Department of Agriculture slashed its forecast for the global wheat crop. Wheat production in the Kurdistan Region is down by half and by 70 percent in Nineveh because of water shortages. In August, some bakers in Sulaimani began selling bread at a higher price. The mayor ordered bakers to keep prices unchanged and the KRG ordered subsidies for bakers. Bakery owners have protested several times, including in front of the office Erbil’s governor on Thursday. The price of cooking gas almost doubled in recent months and the price of flour increased from 25,000 Iraqi dinars to nearly 40,000 dinars for a 50kg bag of flour. The mayor said they will meet with local factories to see about providing cheap flour to bakeries. Meeting the demands of bakers is important for the government, Abdulhamid added, saying “the interests of people come first.”
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