The Ukraine crisis has exacerbated the suffering of Syrians as price hikes and shortages of essential commodities sweep markets in the country. Despite government promises, markets in Damascus and several other governorates saw over a 50% price hike on all prices.
Ahmed Khodr, a Syrian national living in the town of Qadisa north of Damascus, says that three days have passed since stocks of cooking oil have gone missing from commercial retailers and government institutions.
A liter of cooking oil peaked at SYP12,500.
Khodr also reported a shortage in some types of rice.
“About ten days ago, the prices of all commodities and foodstuffs began to rise daily and reached the point of the absence of some of them,” Khodr told dpa.
Khalil Muhammad, a Syrian national living in the city of Zabadani, was shocked by the prices of some foodstuffs shooting up by more than 50% within days.
According to Muhammad, an 8-liter can of corn oil coming from Lebanon was sold in Zabadani areas for SYP70,000 on March 3. On March 4, the price rose to SYP110,000 under the pretext that the Lebanese oil is imported from Ukraine.
The Syrian Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection announced it will introduce quantities of sunflower oil into the markets, confirming that there is enough cooking oil stocks for prices to gradually begin to decrease over the next two weeks.
“We will all work with traders and industrialists to secure the citizens’ requirements without denying the new global situation,” said Minister of Internal Trade Amro Salem in a Facebook post.
Salem revealed that the ministry has signed contracts for 25,000 tons of sunflower oil that will take a month to arrive in Syria.
The oil will be priced appropriately and is imported from the Far East, affirmed Salem.
