The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

Along with raising fuel and bread prices | Al-Assad issues decree raising salaries and retirement pension of employees and military personnel

SOHR sources have reported that the Syrian regime’s president Bashar al-Assad has issued two Legislative Decrees, raising salaries of employees and military personnel by 50% and of retired employees and officials by 40%. The Decree no. 19 of 2021 raises salaries and wages given to all civil and military employees of the state by 50%, and raises the minimum monthly salaries of workers in private, cooperative and joint sectors, that are not included under the government’s employment statute, to 71,515 SYL each.

 

This development coincides with living and economic malaise throughout regime-held areas, including astronomically inflated prices of vital products as well as other chronic crises such as fuel, bread and nature gas shortage, power outages for long time a day, and interruption of water.

 

Accordingly, the maximum salary of an employee in public sector does not exceed 30 USD, 90,000 SYL, while the salary of an employee in private sector approximates 75 USD, 225,000 SYL, at a time when the expenses of a middle class four-member family exceed one million Syrian pounds, 300 USD.

 

A few days ago, the regime’s Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection issued a decree raising the price of petrol (octane 95) distributed via smart card from 2,000 SYL to 3000 SYL per litre. This decree followed another decree raising the state-subsidized prices of sugar and rice. Moreover, the Syrian regime government had raised oil and bread by over 100% a few days after earlier increase in the prices of petrol, sugar and rice. Accordingly, the price of oil providing all institutions of public and privet sectors, including bread bakeries, was risen from 185 SYL per litre to 500 SYL. Regime government also raised the price of a pack of bread from 100 SYL to 200 SYL.

 

Yesterday, SOHR sources reported that the Lebanese Hezbollah continued making great fortune at the expense of the Syrian and Lebanese people through trading in fuel smuggled from Lebanon to Syria, as smuggling operations by Hezbollah and the 4th Division, headed by Maher al-Assad the brother of the Syrian regime’s president, alarmingly escalated via crossings on the Syria-Lebanon border in Homs countryside.

 

It is worth noting that the smuggled fuel was being merchandised in black markets in all Syrian provinces starting from Homs.

 

This development came as a part of the exploitation of the Syrian people’s urgent need fuel, which forced them to buy fuel at black markets in light of the Syrian regime’s inability to secure it in petrol stations. Hezbollah also exploited the Lebanese people who had already been grappling with chronic crises.

 

On July 3, Observatory sources reported that the Syrian regime’s government issued a new decision, raising the price of state-subsidized sugar and rice given via smart card. Regime government set the prices as follows:

 

  • Sugar: 500 SYL per kilo

 

  • Rice: 600 SYL per kilo.

 

The new decision ignited wide popular anger and discontent throughout the areas controlled by the Syrian regime, especially with the current crises, including the astronomically inflated prices of essential products.