100 percent increase for Assad officials

Syria’s President Bashar Assad, in the war, decided to increase the salaries of civil servants, soldiers and pensions by 100 percent with two decrees signed yesterday.

It was announced that Assad made this decision after the rapid depreciation of the Syrian lira against the US dollar.

In the Euronews story, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that fuel prices and production rose hours after the decree, with public dissatisfaction mounting over the increasingly difficult economic situation.

The Damascus administration has been restructuring its price subsidy program for gasoline, heating oil and bread for the past year. On Wednesday, following Assad’s decree, state fuel subsidies were further reduced and prices increased.