Syria govt raises bread, diesel prices as crisis deepens

Steep bread and diesel price hikes went into force in government-held parts of war-torn Syria yesterday, bringing more pain for civilians in a long-running economic crisis.

The price of diesel fuel nearly tripled and the price of bread doubled, according to the official SANA news agency, only days after Damascus announced an increase in the price of petrol.

The move coincided with a decree issued by President Bashar al-Assad yesterday that increases by 50 percent public sector salaries and sets the minimum wage at 71,515 Syrian pounds a month ($57 at the official rate), up from 47,000 pounds ($37).

In a second decree, Assad raised public sector and military pensions by 40 percent, according to SANA.

According to a revised price list published by SANA on Saturday night, one litre of diesel fuel will now cost 500 pounds, up from the 180 pounds users in most sectors were paying previously.

Mustafa Haswiya, of the state-run Syrian Company for the Storage and Distribution of Petroleum Products, said 80 percent of Syria's hydrocarbon needs are purchased from abroad using foreign currency.

"It was necessary to raise prices in order to reduce the import bill," which would otherwise have risked making oil products unaffordable, SANA quoted him as saying.