Afaf, also known as Um Khaled, eagerly awaits Islam’s holy month of fasting, Ramadan, hoping for food and clothing donations for her grandchildren.
Despite earning 1.5 million Syrian pounds monthly as a domestic worker, half goes to rent, leaving little for her deceased son’s family.
She relies on donations during Ramadan, which the Syrian government encourages through market stimulation and discounted food baskets.
“Things change during the month of goodness. Every year, I receive donations of food and clothing that warm the hearts of orphans,” said Um Khaled.
Recent weeks have seen numerous meetings focusing on revitalizing Syria’s markets and offering subsidized food baskets.
One such meeting, held by Damascus Governorate and the Syrian Trading Company with the Damascus Chamber of Commerce, announced over one billion Syrian pounds to fund two thousand purchase vouchers worth 300 thousand pounds each, in addition to one thousand food baskets.
The Syrian Trading Company will also offer discounted food baskets at 20% below market price.
In parallel, the Syrian Central Bank took measures to further stabilize the exchange rate, which has held steady at around 14,000 pounds per US dollar.
Experts attribute this stability primarily to increased financial remittances before Ramadan.
The majority of these remittances come from Iraq, the UAE, Jordan, and other countries.
Meanwhile, shop owners complain about struggling with soaring prices. Despite wholesale discounts in charitable markets, they find it hard to cover costs and note a shift in customer buying habits due to price hikes.
An owner of a small shop in a popular neighborhood in the old city of Damascus, laments the frenzy of prices in charitable markets.
“Wholesale price reductions there don’t translate to my shop. I incur transportation costs that eat up half of my profit, besides selling on credit to neighbors and acquaintances,” the owner, who requested anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“In shopping festivals, big merchants and producing companies dominate, with profits incomparable to those of small shop owners,” they complained, noting a shift in buying habits due to price hikes.
