Damascus– Citizen Shadia Matar complains about the high prices of some goods and services in the Syrian markets despite the high price of the lira against the dollar, saying: “The 200 dollars (expense) that my son sends to me is no longer from Iraq Enough for the middle of the month .. It is necessary to find a solution to the high prices because it has become unbearable. ”
“The rent of my apartment is one million pounds (110 dollars), although the value of the dollar has decreased to about half compared to its value last December, as the rent of my apartment was only $ 75, but now it exceeded the 100 dollars and I have no energy for that. There are also many foodstuffs whose prices did not decrease in a manner that is proportional to the exchange rate of the exchange rate The lira.
The Syrian economy has witnessed major transformations since the fall of the ousted Assad regime on December 8, and the lira increased significantly in front of foreign currencies, especially after the official decision to lift US sanctions and later European is issued on Syria last month.
The dollar exchange rate in the parallel market was recorded in the latest transactions of 9250 pounds against the dollar, compared to 16,000 pounds in early December last year.
However, the prices of some commodities and basic services in Syria are still high compared to the improvement of the exchange rate of the lira, which constitutes a burden in addition to the Syrians, especially public sector employees, and those who depend on their expenses and obligations on the external transfers that their children and relatives send them.
High prices
The local food commodities are highlighted from cheese, milk, canned and products for children as the least affected by the improvement witnessed by the lira exchange rate recently, as some of these goods maintain their prices that were about a month ago when the dollar exchange rate equivalent to 12 thousand pounds. It is followed by locally manufactured goods such as clothing, electrical and health tools, medicines, and numerous services such as restaurants, hotels and medical clinics, according to what Al -Jazeera Net monitored on a tour of it Damascus And its countryside.
The director of the media department of the Syrian Ministry of Economy and Industry, Hassan Al -Ahmad, explained that the improvement in the exchange rate of the lira is natural to be accompanied by a gradual decrease in prices.
He said in a statement to (Al -Jazeera Net): “We have already seen a decline in the prices of some goods and services, especially in sectors that depend on local inputs and are subject to actual competition.”
However, the government official added that this decline does not include all sectors. The prices are still high in sectors, especially the food industries, restaurant services and the clothing sector, due to a number of factors, most notably the imbalance of supply and demand, high operating costs, and the variation of the quality of services provided.
He said: “The market does not respond immediately and evenly in all fields.”
Regarding the government’s role in controlling prices, Al -Ahmad explained that the state, by its direction towards the economy of the free competitive market, is that the Ministry of Economy and Industry does not interfere in imposing prices, but rather focuses on ensuring a fair and transparent market environment, as prices are determined based on cost, quality and demand, not on administrative decisions.
He affirmed that the role of the ministry “is limited to controlling the general framework of the market, preventing monopoly and exaggeration, and encouraging competition and increasing supply, so that prices become more balanced, naturally stable, and within the logic of the market.”
Speculation
Economists unanimously agree that the recent improvement in the exchange rate of the Syrian pound is not based in total on objective economic factors, but rather is greatly due to speculation in the parallel market and the psychological factors that move the behavior of customers.
Syrian economist Hazem Awad believes that what controls the price of the lira exchange in the parallel market is the forces of supply, demand and speculation, which explains the low exchange rate in it (9200 pounds per dollar) in it in Central Bank (11 thousand pounds for the dollar).
He pointed out that the parallel market is not governed by clear economic factors, but rather other psychological factors related to fear or comfort. Whenever news is published about the existence of huge investments that entered Syria, or about a lifting of sanctions, fear prevails and dealers or merchants sell their savings from the dollar, so the value of the lira increases, but it returns to its almost real price after a short period.
The expert explains, in a comment to (Al -Jazeera Net) that some of the commodities related to dollars directly may record a partial decrease in their prices with the improvement of the exchange rate of the lira, but this decrease is not equivalent to the improved exchange rate completely, because the merchant deals with the reality of an unstable market, and it is preferable to keep a “safety margin” in pricing, which leads him to not lower prices at the expected pace, while some of the goods produced locally may not Its price is absolutely affected by fluctuation Exchange rate Because it is not imported and subject to different production conditions.
The economist Adham Al -Qudayati refers in a comment to (Al -Jazeera Net) to a group of factors that play a role in the high or low prices of goods and services in Syria, most notably:
- The absence of a real economy based on solid economic foundationsEconomic institutions in the country suffer from severe exhaustion since the era of the defunct regime, which limits their ability to manage the economy, despite a remarkable effort that the Syrian government is making to try to enable these institutions to fulfill their role.
- Exchange ratesIt is caused by most of the speculation in the parallel market, which is shadowed on the prices of goods and services, as most materials are pronounced according to these unstable changes.
- The absence of adequate local production: Especially in basic food commodities, which prevents self -sufficiency and makes local markets dependent on global prices.
- Import most goods from abroad This makes it more vulnerable to the effects of external fluctuations, especially in the absence of real persistence in the exchange rate.