Data issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry shows the total money spent by the ministry in the form of support on food and construction materials between January and the end of December 2021 was 225.2 million dinars, as most of it focused on supporting construction materials which was the biggest recipient of the share which amounted to 137.3 million dinars, or more than 50% of the total expenditure volume, while spending on food subsidies during the same period was 78.9 million dinars.
The data showed a remarkable growth in the volume of spending on supporting construction materials since the beginning of this year until the end of last December, as spending on supporting these materials amounted to 5.1 million dinars in January, then 5.6 million in February, then 5.3 million in March, then 5.4 million in April, then 6 million in May, 8.5 million dinars in July, before witnessing successive jumps that reached 12 million in July, 13 million in August, 16.4 million in September, 18 million in October, 20.4 million in November, and 21 5 million in December, in a clear indication of the growth in the construction and building movement that the residential sector witnessed during the second half of the year, starting from July until the end of the year, coinciding with the launch of building permits for new suburbs in the residential city of Al-Mutla’a reports a local Arabic daily.
As is well known, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry subsidizes 9 basic food supplies — rice, sugar, lentils, corn oil, powdered milk, milk and baby feeders (21 types), tomato paste (two types), and frozen chicken (20 types).