As Syrian pound’s value continues plummeting with extreme poverty | SOHR calls on international organizations to help civilians in Syrian regime-held areas

The accelerating collapse of the Syrian pound against foreign currencies continues, where the Syrian pound’s value hit on Tuesday a new record low against foreign currencies. In Damascus, the selling rate is 3,910 SYP and the buying rate is 3,860 SYP against the dollar, while 4,697 SYP for selling and 4,632 SYP for buying against the euro. In Idlib and Aleppo countryside, however, the selling rate is 531 SYP and the buying rate is 520 SYP against Turkish lira. On the other hand, the price of one gram of 21 carat gold has reached 190,000 SYP per gram in Damascus.    

With the prohibitively high price of basic foodstuff, the situation in the regime-held areas has become disastrous, where the monthly income is not commensurate in any way with inflation and high prices, as the highest monthly salary of any civilian is no more than 90,000 Syrian pounds, while the largest segment of people gets an average monthly salary between 30 and 60 thousand.

This raises many questions, most notably: Is the Revolution of dignity, freedom and justice that the Syrian people that started nearly a decade ago turning into a revolution of hunger? And, why this failure by international organizations, why is international aid limited to the north-west and north-east of the country, and are the sanctions imposed under Caesar Act behind the starvation of the Syrian people or the corruption of the regime?!

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) calls on international organizations to help civilians in the Syrian regime-held areas, as not everyone can flee or take refuge. Where the situation has become unbearable and the conditions that SOHR monitors and tracks there are inhuman.

Here is a new list of prices of some basic commodities in the Syrian regime-held areas, which saw a significant increase today compared to previous days, as a result of the accelerated collapse of the Syrian pound:

Meat

• Raw chicken: 5200 SYP / $1,327 per 1kg
• Grilled chicken: 14,000 SYP / $3,581
• Fried chicken: 16,000 SYP / $4,092
• Beef: 18,000 SYP / $4,604 per 1kg
• Lamb: 25,000 SYP / $6,394 per 1kg

Basic commodities

• Short rice 3,200 SYP / $0.818 per 1kg
• Bulgur 2,000 SYP / $0.512 per 1kg
• Vegetable oil 8200 SYP / $2,097 per litre
• Margarine 9500 SYP / $2.43 per 1kg
• Eggs 7000 SYP / $1.79
• Semolina 3000 SYP /$0.767
• Sugar 2400 SYP / $0.614 per 1kg

Vegetables and fruits

• Potato 800 SYP / $0.222
• Cucumber 1300 SYP / $0.361
• Lemon 1000 SYP / $0.278
• Garlic 11,000 SYP / $3,056
• Sweet pepper 2000 SYP / $0.556
• Courgette 1500 SYP / $0.417
• Orange 1500 SYP / $0.417
• Banana 2000 SYP / $0.556
• Strawberry 3500 SYP / $0.927
• Green Bean 2500 SYP / 0.694
• Apple 1400 SYP / $0.358

Fuel

• Cooking gas clyinder 23,000 SYP / $5,882
• Gasoline 1250 SYP / $0.347 per litre
• Diesel 1250 SYP / $0.347 per litre

It is worth noting that commodity prices are constantly changing and there are no fixed prices due to the instability of the Syrian pound against foreign currencies.