Residents in Syria’s Damascus taunt recent financial stimulus
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, residents of the Syrian capital, Damascus, expressed their sarcasm after the issuance of a one-time financial stimulus of 50,000 Syrian pounds (SYP) for the employees and 40,000 SYP for the retired, equivalent to approximately $10.
The Syrian pound is witnessing a significant decline, as the exchange rate against the dollar reached 4,500 SYP today.
“Before leaving the house today, I phoned some of my relatives abroad to urge them to immediately return to the homeland, and benefit from this stimulus, as it happens just once,” Khairallah Ishaq ,a pseudonym for an employee working in the Health Directorate of Rif Dimashq governorate, told North Press.
While May Hatoum, a pseudonym for an female employee in the Student Affairs Department in Baramkeh, said: Of course, I am happy with this stimulus, because I am going to buy a kilo of tea to offer my husband a cup of it.”
In turn, Issam al-Bassel, a pseudonym for a retired who is now, working as a taxi driver, said, “with this stimulus, I can pay back the money I borrowed in the past three days.”
The presidential decree came a few hours after the decision to increase gasoline prices.
The Syria’s Ministry of Internal Trade issued a decision to raise the price of 95 octane gasoline to 2,000 SYP per liter, and the price of 90 octane gasoline to 750 SYP per liter.
Late in December 2020, the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, issued a legislative decree providing for a one-time financial stimulus of 50,000 SYP for the state’s employees, and 40,000 SYP for the retired.