Syrian President Bashar al-Assad issued two decrees to pay a 50% increase in salaries and wages for workers and employees in the public sector. The inflation rate rose during the last quarter of last year to 150%, while the purchasing power index reached a very low level of 4.21%.
In addition to the population suffering from their poor financial situation in the cities and areas controlled by the regime, families in opposition-controlled areas in the north of the country live in a state of poverty and hunger. The Syrian economy has been suffering from contraction and dysfunction since 2005, when it witnessed the beginning of its transformation.