Syrian interim government announces 400% pay raise for workers
The Syrian interim government, which assumed power after President Bashar al-Assad's fall and escape, announced on Sunday that it will increase the salaries of public sector employees by 400 percent starting next month.
"(This is) the first step toward an emergency solution to the economic reality in the country," Mohammed Abazid, the new government's finance minister, told Reuters. The cost of the wage increase is estimated at around £100 million.
The raise will be financed from existing state resources and a mix of regional aid, new investments, and efforts to unfreeze Syrian assets held abroad. Last spring, the World Bank noted that in 2022, 69 per cent of Syria's population lived in poverty, while 20 per cent were in extreme poverty.
Syrian government appeals to the US: sanctions target the nation, not the Assad regime
Syria's Foreign Minister, Asad Hasan al-Shibani, appealed to the United States to lift the crippling sanctions imposed on his country, emphasising that they are an obstacle to the rapid reconstruction of the war-torn nation. Shibani, who was visiting Qatar, told reporters that the sanctions are currently aimed at the Syrian people, not, as previously, the Assad regime.
The international community is observing to see how the new leaders in Damascus will use their power and is not in a rush to lift the economic restrictions imposed on Syria, noted the Voice of America portal. It reminded that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who visited Syria on Friday, stated that lifting the sanctions imposed on Damascus will depend on transformative processes in the country.
"Europe will support, but Europe would not be a sponsor of new Islamist structures," the German minister declared. During her visit, she highlighted the importance of ensuring that the transformation process involves all segments of society. She stressed the need for Syria to become a secure home for all its inhabitants.
On 8th December, the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took control in Damascus, overthrowing the regime of Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive after 24 years of rule.
