Syria: sharp rise in diesel and bread prices amid economic crisis
The price of diesel almost tripled and that of bread doubled on Sunday in areas controlled by the Syrian government.
LOUAI BESHARA AFP / File
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A sharp rise in the price of bread and diesel fuel went into effect Sunday, July 11 in Syrian government-controlled areas, making life even more difficult for civilians in a country at war for ten years.
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With our correspondent in Beirut,
Paul Khalifeh
The price of diesel almost tripled and that of bread doubled on Sunday in areas controlled by the Syrian government.
These brutal increases announced by the authorities practically swallowed up a 50% wage hike in the civil service and 40% in the ranks of the army, decided by President Bashar al-Assad a few hours earlier.
An unprecedented rise in poverty
This surge in prices will worsen the living conditions of millions of people in this country hit by an unprecedented economic crisis due to the war that has lasted for ten years and severe Western sanctions.
More than 82% of Syrians live below the poverty line, according to United Nations estimates.
Most of the oil wells located in the east of the country are outside the control of the government, forced to export more than 80% of its fuel needs while the state coffers are empty.
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See also:
The UN unanimously extends the cross-border aid mechanism to Syria, a first
The increase in diesel prices in Syria comes two weeks after a 35% increase in the price of fuel in Lebanon.
A measure decided in part because of the smuggling of subsidized fuel oil and gasoline to neighboring Syria.
Lebanon served as an economic lung for warring Syria before the economic crisis that brought the country of the cedar to its knees.
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Syria
Lebanon
Economic crisis