DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Late in November, features of an energy crisis began to raise its head in the country, as in the past two years, but this time it is harsher and more suffocating accompanied by a clear government admission in words of the minister of Oil and Mineral Resources of the Syrian government.
On Dec. 3, Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources, Bassam Tohme, said in an interview on the state television that the expected supplies have been delayed. Days after his statement, the detained ship arrived through sea.
On Dec. 5, Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection issued a decision to raise the price of diesel allocated to factories to 5.400 Syrian pounds (SYP), and benzene from 2.500 to 4.900 SYP.
BS Company (Offshore), which sells oil derivatives for industrial facilities, ordered that diesel is sold at the same price. It is worth noting that this company is located in Lebanon and belongs to Qatirji, a group affiliated with Assad family.
50-year-old Umm Hazem, who lives in Tadamon area in Damascus, counts what is left of her allowance, “it should cover needs of my family of five.”
Prior to November, Umm Hazem used to spend about 75.000 SYP daily for food and drink for only two meals, but since the middle of the month, the amount has increased to about 100.000 SYP a day.
In a colloquial dialect, the housewife, whose family members work in various jobs, said, “The vegetable merchant says fees of vegetables’ transferring have become expensive and that benzene is not available, and taxi fees have doubled because drivers buy unsubsidized benzene.”
33-year-old Ahmad Ali, a taxi driver working in Damascus and its countryside, begins his speech speaking about the dire economic and living situation they have reached.
He pointed out that the price of unsubsidized benzene has risen from 8.000 to 12.000 SYP and sometimes to 15.000 SYP, “Why does the citizen reproach me if I demand further 2.000 SYP added to the basic fee?”
As for the current situation, a female economist and former official in the Syrian government told North Press that the current inflation the country is witnessing “indicates an inevitable economic collapse, especially if salaries remain the same, and not to mention the economic blockade that is an important reason for the economic collapse.”
She added, “The monetary systems and policies adopted by the Syrian government were improvised and ill-considered that serve interests of specific people only, without paying attention to the citizen.”
Today, according to the economist, each Syrian family “needs two million SYP for a decent life, whereas in October, the amount was almost one million.”
She wonders, “How can a head of a family, who is an employee whose salary does not exceed 150.000 SYP, secure one million SYP?”
Arranging issues
Syrian men and women, especially those living in the government-held areas, follow the “day-by-day” policy in arranging their livings the same like the government do.
60-year-old Yahiya Mahmoud known as “Abu Amer”, a pseudonym for owner of a shop for selling haberdashery and unsubsidized diesel and benzene in Mezzeh, said, “Price of 20 liters of diesel is 210.000 SYP, and the price of one liter of benzene is 15.000 SYP.”
Speaking of the source of the fuel that is always available at his shop, he noted fuel “comes from neighbors, namely Lebanon.”
He believes that the price of fuel still makes sense due to the transport fees and amounts paid to checkpoints on routes.
In the same neighborhood, 33-year-old Muhammad Ali, a pseudonym for a doctor in a government hospital, said, “Fee of the taxi service has increased by 1.000 SYP, which means that 60.000 SYP is added to the individual’s expenses without including that of food, drink and others.”
In light of the unprecedented inflation, Ali needs three times his salary of 100.000 SYP to live in dignity, so he looks for a night shift job anywhere, “even if it is in a café,” as he put it.
While 34-year-old Reem Mahmoud, a pseudonym for a journalist, works three jobs to keep pace with inflation, she goes to her first job in a clothing store in Jaramana, and then makes sweets in one of the shops in Ancient City of Damascus.
She starts working from 09:00 am to 09:00 pm, and from 10 to 12 pm, she writes press materials and follows up on developments.
Being preoccupied working three jobs, she makes monthly only one million Syrian pounds, so far she has not installed an oil heater, but rather she waits for electricity to get warm.