Syria to End Subsidies for Richest Citizens

A merchant counts Syrian pound notes, bearing a portrait of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, at the Bzourieh market in the center of the Syrian capital Damascus on September 11, 2019. (Getty Images)
A merchant counts Syrian pound notes, bearing a portrait of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, at the Bzourieh market in the center of the Syrian capital Damascus on September 11, 2019. (Getty Images)
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Syria to End Subsidies for Richest Citizens

A merchant counts Syrian pound notes, bearing a portrait of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, at the Bzourieh market in the center of the Syrian capital Damascus on September 11, 2019. (Getty Images)
A merchant counts Syrian pound notes, bearing a portrait of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, at the Bzourieh market in the center of the Syrian capital Damascus on September 11, 2019. (Getty Images)

Syria will lift subsidies on basic goods such as bread and gasoline for around 800,000 of its richest citizens by the end of the year to help ease the burden on state finances, officials said on Wednesday.

The move will affect high-earners working in the private sector who can buy essentials with ration cards at a reduced cost.

“There are segments of society that do not need subsidies... I mean those who have money,” Internal Trade Minister Amro Salem told a press conference.

Amro said removing the subsidies would help the poorest in a country of over 18 million people whose economy has been devastated by a decade-old war, and where salaries and subsidies account for the bulk of state spending.

Syria introduced ration cards to ease chronic shortages.

The government has increased public sector pay sharply as inflation spirals. The economy has shrunk by around 60% since the start of the conflict, according to the World Bank and independent economists.



Syrian FM Says Will Visit European Countries in Coming Period

Italy's Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani (C) meets with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani (R) in Damascus, Syria, 10 January 2025. EPA/GIUSEPPE LAMI
Italy's Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani (C) meets with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani (R) in Damascus, Syria, 10 January 2025. EPA/GIUSEPPE LAMI
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Syrian FM Says Will Visit European Countries in Coming Period

Italy's Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani (C) meets with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani (R) in Damascus, Syria, 10 January 2025. EPA/GIUSEPPE LAMI
Italy's Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Tajani (C) meets with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani (R) in Damascus, Syria, 10 January 2025. EPA/GIUSEPPE LAMI

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani said on Friday that he will visit European countries in the coming period.

He spoke during a press conference with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani in Damascus.

Tajani said he was traveling to Syria on Friday to encourage the country's transition following the ouster of President Bashar Assad, and said Europe should review its sanctions on Damascus now that the political situation has changed.

“It’s an issue that should be discussed because Assad isn’t there anymore, it’s a new situation, and I think that the encouraging signals that are arriving should be further encouraged,” he said.