Syrian government estimates production of cotton at 56,000 tons
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Head of the Union of Textile Workers of the Syrian Government, Muammad Azouz, said the production of cotton is estimated at about 56,000 tons in government-held areas.
Azouz stated to the pro-government al-Watan newspaper that the Union recently requested a loan from the Ministry of Finance through the Agriculture Bank as always. The required loan is 562 billion Syrian pounds(SYP) to pay the value of cotton received from farmers.
However, the Ministry refused to grant it and requested to reduce the value of the loan to commensurate with real estimations of the amount of cotton received, according to Azouz.
In mid-September, the Syrian government agreed to the recommendations presented by the economic committee which set the price of one kilogram of cotton received from farmers in 2023 at 10,000 SYP.
Azouz noted the previous estimations when the budget was defined were 71,000 tons set according to the price of one kilogram of cotton, 4,000 SYP, at the time. However, when the government raised the price to 10,000 SYP the estimated amounts were no longer sufficient to buy the harvest.
The Head of the Union stressed that to date, the State Foundation for Cotton has not been able to pay the value of cotton received, which has so far exceeded 1,100 tons, leading to fear that farmers may become reluctant to sell and therefore causing a decline in receiving the cotton.