Amid economic hardship and looming cold temperatures | Over 70% of heating allowances have not reached residents in regime areas
SOHR activists have reported that heating allowances subsidized by the Syrian regime failed to reach most Syrians, where the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection announced that 70% of families did not receive their share of subsidized heating allowances despite reducing their share from 200 to 50 litres in all provinces.
On August, the Syrian Ministry of Oil and Mineral Resources announced the reduction of subsidized heating allowances to quarter its previous quantity.
As the Syrian regime’s government is unable to put an end to the corruption in its institutions or the critical economic hardship in light of the sanctions imposed on Syria under “Caesar Act”, the living situation of Syrian people in regime-held areas has deteriorated greatly. Residents in these areas are struggling with prohibitively high prices of food and fuel, especially since winter approaches, at time when the salaries of employees and workers are too low.
The maximum monthly salary of a worker in regime-held areas reaches 300,000 SYL, equivalent to 85 USD, while an employee in regime’s governmental departments can reach 230,000 SYL, equivalent to 65 USD. However, the minimum expenses of a medium-class family of five exceed one million SYL every month, equivalent to 285 USD. Accordingly, most of the families have no other source of income, and they incur debts
SOHR sources have reported a list of the new prices of essential products in regime-controlled areas as follows:
Food supplies
• Long rice: 3,800 SYL / $1.078 per kilo
• Short rice: 2,800 SYL /$0.749 per kilo
• Flower: 2,000 SYL /$0.567 per kilo
• Sugar: 2,000 SYL /$0.567 per kilo
• Bulgur: 2,000 SYL /$0.567 per kilo
• Lentil: 1,800 SYL /$0.511 per kilo
• Milled Lentil: 2,000 SYL /$0.567 per kilo
• Chickpeas: 2,000 SYL /$0.567 per kilo
• Tea: 25,000 SYL /$0.709 per kilo
• Coffee: 22,000 SYL /$0.624 per kilo
• Sunflower oil: 9,000 SYL / $2.553 per litre
• Ghee: 9,000 SYL / $2.553 per kilo
• Eggs: 7,000 SYL / $1.986 per pack
• Halawa: 7,500 SYL / $2.128 per pack
Meat
• Chicken: 7,000 SYL / $1.986 per kilo
• Meat: 20,000 SYL / $5.674 per kilo
• Lamb: 25,000 SYL / $7.092 per kilo
Fuel
• Duty-free petrol: 4,500 SYL / 1.277 per litre
• Duty-free oil: 3,500 SYL / 0.993 per litre
• Gas cylinder: 40,000 SYL / $11.348
• Logs used for heating: from 350,000 to 600,000 SYL
It is worth noting that the prices of these commodities change from one area to another because of the levies imposed by regime checkpoints on the merchants and trucks transporting goods, as well as the unstable exchange rate of the Syrian pound against foreign currency. In addition, the lack of surveillance by regime authorities on markets and merchants has turned local markets into black markets.
On November 2, SOHR activists reported growing popular anger in regime-held areas over the new decisions issued by the Ministry of Electricity and Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection, raising the prices of gas and electricity by 100% at a time when most of the areas controlled by the Syrian regime suffer from power outages for long time every day and lack of gas cylinder and their high prices in black markets.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection set the price of a 10-kilogram gas cylinder sold without smart cards at 30,600 SYL. This price is nearly two doubles of the gas cylinders sold via smart cards, which have been also risen from 4,200 SYL to 9,700 SYL each.
The ministry also set the 10-kilogram gas cylinders sold via smart card at 40,000 SYL each, while the gas cylinders of the same capacity sold without smart card has been risen to 49,000 SYL each.
According the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection’s statement, the decree is applied from today.
The ministry also justified the new prices to the sanctions imposed on the Syrian regime, and that a gas cylinder costs 30,000 SYL, and according to the new process two thirds of the value of the gas cylinders are subsidized by the government, as the ministry claimed.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Electricity of the Syrian regime has raised electricity prices. According to the recent decree, , the price of a kilowatt of electricity on residential units has been risen as follows:
• First tier of consumption: from 1 to 2 SYL.
• Second tier of consumption: from 3 to 6 SYL.
• Third tier of consumption: from 6 to 20 SYL.
• Fourth tier of consumption: from 10 to 90 SYL.
• Fifth tier of consumption: from 25 to 150 SYL.
The new decisions make Syrian people in regime-controlled areas shoulder extra burdens at a time when they have already been grappling with chronic crises, deteriorating living situation, astronomically inflated prices of essential products, lack of job opportunities, and low salaries.