Shafaq News / The decision of the Ministry of Trade to replace flour with subsidized bread that will be "optional" has left Iraqi citizens uncertain, as they fear that it could create opportunities for corruption and that they might lose access to the most important item provided through the food basket.

The Minister of Trade, Atheer Al-Ghuriri, announced that the plan to introduce a new culture to replace flour with bread will start as an experiment, providing citizens with 600 loaves of bread per month instead of flour via the electronic card. The plan will begin in Baghdad's Zayouna and Mansour neighborhoods from the following week.

The ministry issued a statement later, indicating that the study of this plan involves the introduction of the optional subsidized loaf project. The plan will replace the share of flour with 120 samoons per person per month or 90 loaves of bread, and will start in wealthy areas, provided that it is optional by four samoons per person per day.

On average, a family of six spends 2000 dinars per day (1000 dinars in the morning and 1000 dinars in the evening) on bread, totaling 60,000 dinars per month. However, the family receives 56 kilos of flour per month through the food basket, whereas a 50-kilogram bag costs 25,000 dinars in the markets, making the substitution of bread for flour theoretically beneficial.

However, the Ministry of Trade did not disclose the system or how the bread would be distributed, and it is known that the flour ration is not provided monthly, causing concerns among citizens. Ali Youssef expressed doubts about the plan, stating that the Ministry of Trade failed to deliver the items of supply regularly in the past. The items of food received by citizens were of poor quality, particularly rice, tomato paste, vegetable oil, and chickpeas.

Additionally, Youssef pointed out that the Ministry of Trade did not deliver the ration of flour through the food basket that was supposed to be distributed monthly since January, raising questions about how citizens will receive their rations of bread if flour is not distributed monthly. The owner of a bakery in the Karrada neighborhood of central Baghdad, also expressed skepticism about the plan and stated that bakeries have no time to waste in the distribution of Samoon for the benefit of the Ministry of Trade.

Regarding the issue of replacing flour with bread, some citizens in Iraq have raised concerns about the quality of the flour used by bakeries. The owner of a bakery in Karrada explained that Turkish zero type flour is used, and it is often mixed with small amounts of other flours. The amount of samoon that can be produced from a 50 kg bag of flour ranges from 600 to 700 samoons, depending on the weight of the dough and the bakery's techniques.

In addition, citizens have also recalled a fatwa issued by the supreme religious authority, Ali al-Sistani, on the "legal ruling" of replacing flour with bread. In response to a query posted on the official website, al-Sistani advised against trading flour for bread, stating that it is not without a problem and that selling the flour bag and then using the proceeds to purchase the necessary amount of bread is the best approach.

Tha'er Mukhif, a respected member of the parliamentary agriculture committee, has voiced his opposition to the Ministry of Trade's decision to replace flour with subsidized bread. In his view, the decision fails to take into account the diversity of preferences among Iraqi citizens, who may bake their own bread or prefer different types of bread, such as samoon. He argues that this solution will not effectively address the problem it is meant to solve, and that the ministry should instead focus on improving the distribution of flour.

Economist Ahmed Saddam echoes Mukhif's concerns, noting that the creation of a database to organize the distribution of bread and flour to citizens would be a difficult and time-consuming process. Instead, he suggests that citizens be given the freedom to choose whether to receive bread or flour, and that corrupt agents who have hindered the distribution of flour in certain areas should be held accountable.

However, economic expert Khattab al-Dhamen believes that the decision to replace flour with bread could benefit both citizens and the state, provided that the quantities of bread provided are appropriate and equivalent to what citizens would receive from private bakeries. He notes that the decision may also create job opportunities for young people by opening new bakeries to meet the increased demand for bread.

It is important to note that Iraq has been using a ration card system since 1990, as a result of the UN economic blockade imposed on the country after Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. While the ration card system is meant to ensure the delivery of essential items such as rice, sugar, tomato paste, vegetable oil, and flour to citizens, delays in processing and distribution have been a persistent issue for the Ministry of Trade.