Lebanese PM asks Algeria to exempt Lebanon from sugar export ban

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked the Algerian foreign minister in a meeting in Doha today, to convey his wish to the Algerian government to be exempt from the latter's decision to ban the export of sugar. 

Two weeks ago, Algeria banned the export of foodstuffs amid a rising food crisis that resulted from the war in Ukraine.

"On the joint proposal of the Ministers of Agriculture and Trade, the President of the Republic ordered to prevent the export of all consumer products imported by Algeria, such as sugar, pasta, oil, semolina, and all wheat derivatives, assigning the Minister of Justice to prepare a draft law criminalizing the export of materials, not produced locally, as an act disruptive to the national economy," a statement by the Presidency said.

Algeria's actions came after other countries took measures to keep their food reserves following the ongoing war in Ukraine, which caused a global rise in prices of key commodities.

Lebanon, whose economic crisis the World Bank said might rank among the top 10 worst economic crises in the world since the mid-nineteenth century, has been undergoing shortages of food and oil as well as hikes in prices.

The fear of a deterioration of the situation in Lebanon stems from the war in Ukraine and the mounting sanctions on Russia, which the West has been implementing punitive measures against over its special military operation in Ukraine.