‘People don’t have money’: Syrian fuel hikes deepen economic pain
Higher diesel and petrol prices are pushing up transport and food costs across an already impoverished Syria.
Damascus, Syria – The fuel price hike hit at midnight on Sunday. By Monday morning, frustration had poured into the streets, sparking open defiance across Syria.
A sudden government decree drove diesel prices up by 40 percent overnight and petrol by 28 percent. For millions of Syrians, the price increase is a direct threat to their survival.
Demonstrators quickly gathered in public squares from Aleppo and Idlib in the north to Hama in central Syria and Deraa in the south, burning tyres and blocking key roads – including the main highway between Damascus and Aleppo.
“I spent all my money on diesel. I only have four and a half dollars left,” he explained. “At the end of the day, I might earn only $10. I could make this money doing any other kind of work. It’s just not worth it.”