DARAA, Syria (North Press) – Daraa Governorate, south Syria, is facing difficult living conditions as a result of the continuous collapse of the Syrian pound (SPY), lack and increasing price of fuel, all of which have had a negative impact on residents, causing costs of transporting of food and other goods to increase.
Local sources told North Press that the majority of merchants are now trading materials in US dollars or its equivalent in the Syrian pound due to the accelerating collapse of the SYP.
The exchange rate of the SYP against the US dollar has crossed 6.000 SYP.
In light of the spiking prices of the materials affected by the fuel crisis, markets in Daraa witness weak movement.
Citizens are the most affected
Muhammad Abazid, a pseudonym for a trader, says that the lack of fuel has its impact on every industry, including the cost of clothing and transportation.
Merchants have also been affected by the transportation crisis, Abazid further explained to North Press, adding that due to the locals’ inability to travel, markets that used to be crowded every morning with villagers are now almost empty.
He pointed out that the citizen is the most affected in light of the high costs of production, transportation, and securing fuel for malls at markets.
According to Muhammad al-Zoubi, a father for a family who is a government employee residing in Daraa, locals are purchasing the bare minimum of vegetables and fruits due to the fuel crisis, its effects on the city’s transportation, and the high pay of labors.
Skyrocketing
Abdurrahman Daibes, a 38-year-old shopkeeper in Daraa, told North Press that the erratic increase in diesel prices in the previous few days has led to a soaring rise in the price of products.
He added since farmers decided not to send their products to the city centers due to the high transportation costs, vegetable prices have soared by more than 100%.
The 45-year-old Farhan al-Salamat, a pseudonym for one of fuel merchants on the black market in Daraa, attributed the reason for the fuel “soaring prices” to not pumping it into the markets.
He pointed out that “monopolizing fuel by merchants is another reason for the soaring prices and shortage,” as each liter of benzene reached 16.000 SPY and a liter of diesel reached 9.000 SPY.
He stated that the merchants’ pretext for abstaining from selling fuel is to “maintain capitals and avoid incurring losses until the material becomes available and the market stabilizes.”
The economy’s reality
Osama al-Qadi, an economic expert residing in Canada, believes that the economic situation in the government-held areas is “extremely catastrophic” and indicates “the regime’s dependence on oil supply of from Iran and others and through smuggling routes, which is an unsuccessful and undependable method.”
Al-Qadi added, “All these causes will result in an almost total paralysis of the Syrian economy and all these reasons will be reflected in the value of the SPY and new falls in its values that may approach 7.000 against the US dollar by the end of this year.”
He noted, “Without a real political solution, it is not possible to resolve the disastrous economic reality of Syria.”