Emergency discussion on the Bread prices surge by 36% initiated by PM Lapid ended without decisions

The emergency discussion on the issue of raising the price of bread ended without decisions. At the beginning of the debate, which took place on Sunday at the initiative of Prime Minister Yair Lapid, he announced that the purpose of the debate is "a complete halt to the rise in the price of uniform bread."
During the discussion, a number of economic and legislative proposals were raised on how to reach agreements. Prime Minister Lapid ordered the head of the budget department in the Ministry of Finance to return within three days for another discussion, on the formulation of the best way to stop the rise in the price of uniform bread.
The Treasury has for the time been opposed to the proposals, and in any case, it is not at all clear which of them will undergo legal advice at all since this is a government on the eve of the election.
The discussion was attended by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Oded Forer, Minister of Welfare and Social Security Meir Cohen, Minister of Justice Gideon Saar, Chief of Staff Danny Wesley, Director General of the Prime Minister's Office Naama Schultz, Director General of the Ministry of Economy Ron Malka, Accountant General Yahli Rotenberg Budget Division in the Ministry of Finance Yogev Gordos, VP of Economics and Infrastructure in the office of Prime Minister Amir Barkan and other professionals.
The discussion in the Prime Minister's Office comes against the background of the decision of the Prices Committee, which announced on Thursday that the prices of supervised bread will rise by 36% starting today due to the update of the input basket and the cumulative increase in flour prices. At the end of the week, Lapid announced the convening of the "emergency discussion", which ended without any news, and at the same time the big chains, including Rami Levy, Shufersal, Beitan Wines, Victory, Yochananoff, the market warehouses and half free, agreed to suspend the price of supervised bread for two weeks.
Wheat prices began to fall from May due to fears of a recession to prices recorded in late 2021 and early 2022, before the war between Russia and Ukraine that prices of goods would rise. However, the price update of the bread under supervision is made based on a calculation that includes wheat that was already purchased before the month of May, when the corona crisis will also increase the price of wheat.
Supervised bread prices have not been updated for about three years - since 2019. That is, now it is a backward update that takes into account the jump of up to 225% in the price of wheat this year and also the fact that wheat prices were relatively low in 2019 but increased compared to 2018.
The next price update may be a reduction in the price of controlled bread following the current decline in wheat prices, but it is not necessarily relevant to the current calculation. In contrast to the prices of unsupervised bread products - when there is a decrease in inputs - the price of supervised bread decreases accordingly. Bakeries do not necessarily discount pitas, rolls and rye bread and whole wheat as the price of wheat and other grains falls.

 The price of uniform bread and white bread that are under supervision should have risen this Sunday by no less than 36%, it became clear today (Thursday) from the announcement of the joint price committee to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. This is after the Minister of Economy, Orna Barbibai, announced yesterday that the prices of supervised bread are expected to rise by about 20%.