The head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, on Thursday dismissed prime minister Imad Khamis in a move that follows weeks of deepening economic hardship and rising public anger in government-held areas.
Regime media did not give a reason for the sudden decision, announced in a presidential decree that designated water resources minister Hussein Arnous as Khamis' successor.
Syria has been in the throes of an economic crisis, with the currency plunging to record lows in recent days, aggravating hardships for ordinary Syrians battered by years of war.
The country's currency hit a record 3,000 Syrian pounds to the dollar earlier this week in an accelerating free-fall. It traded at 47 pounds before the 2011 uprising that turned into a full-fledged war.
Syrian authorities blame Western sanctions for widespread hardship among ordinary residents, where the currency collapse has led to soaring prices and people struggling to afford food and basic supplies.
The government has criticized a wave of new, tighter US sanctions, known as US Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, which takes effect later this month.
Economists and politicians say the Caesar Act it will further tighten the noose around Assad's government.
But the US Embassy in Syria tweeted Wednesday that the Assad government is responsible for the country's economic meltdown, accusing it of squandering millions each month on a “needless war.”
Washington will continue its targeted sanctions and increased economic pressure on Assad's government, it said, “until there is irreversible progress on the political process," including a nationwide cease-fire.
In the last year alone the Syrian pound has lost over 80% of its value, amid expanded US and European sanctions and a financial crisis in Lebanon that choked an important source of foreign currency.
With growing public anger, hundreds of protesters in Sweida in southern Syria took to the streets this week against worsening living conditions.
In rare demonstrations in regime-controlled areas that did not rise against Assad's rule at the outset of Syria's war, protesters called for the president's overthrow.
