Syria President decrees 50% salary hike amid harsh crisis

Syria has been hard hit by a decade of war, western sanctions, corruption and most recently a severe financial crisis

Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a decree Sunday giving hundreds of thousands of civil servants and military members a 50 per cent salary increase amid a harsh economic and financial crisis and price increases for vital products.

Assad's decision came a day after the state doubled the price of bread, the country's main staple, and increased by 180per cent the price of diesel fuel.

Read more: Syria raises bread, diesel prices as crisis deepens

The Syrian economy has been hard hit by a decade of war, western sanctions, widespread corruption and most recently a severe economic and financial crisis in neighboring Lebanon. The last salary increase was announced in November 2019.

The decree released by Assad's office put the minimum monthly income at 71,515 Syrian pounds ($22). It also granted military and civilian pension holders an increase of 40 per cent in the retirement pension.

The US dollar is trading at about 3,200 pounds on the black market while the official rate is 2,500 pounds.

Nearly 80 per cent of Syrians live in poverty, and 60 per cent are food insecure — the worst food security situation ever seen in Syria, according to the United Nations.