Regime-held areas suffer prices hike as monopoly spread

(Eqtsad)- Abu Ahmad hides his face away from his interlocutor as he narrates the condition he reached in the war years. The tears run down his cheek as he could not stop them. He cannot figure out how to solve the degree of helplessness and piled up debt. How he will manage to buy fuel and school items for the children. The Eid is at the door. He thinks of the many years he could not buy new outfits for his children to celebrate Eid.

We used to buy Eid sweets before the crisis for 5000 SP per kilo. How can a government employee whose salary is 20000 SP buy sweets in this price? 

Abu Khaled, employee in water institution in the capital’s countryside, simply tries to answer the question saying, “the solution is to make it at home and that minimizes the cost by 50% rather than buying it from stores.”

The prices of sweets in the market are varied because of absence of monitoring.

 

The prices are also increased because the raw material price is high. For example, a kilo of Ghariyen ranges between 1000 and 1500 SP, Barazeq 1500 and 1800 SP and these are popular cheap sweets. But something like Marbroumeh costs 5000 SP whereas Mamoul without pistachio costs 3000 SP.

The paper’ price increased due to siege as one printing house said as well as the power cut contributed to increased prices of school items. The imported school items cannot be afforded by average-income earning persons.

The notebooks’ prices are quite varied. Everyone sells according to them. All the lies by regime institutions do not help decreasing the burden of those who do not have enough income. For instance, Arabic notebooks of 200 paper costs 275 SP. A big drawing book costs 90 SP. Binding costs 200 SP. A bag of colored pencils (12) costs 200 SP. A color case costs between 50 and 500 SP. The engineering items cost between 175 and 350 SP.

In a simple mathematics, a government employees working in power field needs 50000 SP to pay for the school items for three children, so what if they had university students. This is regardless of the school uniforms and sports uniforms.

Foot storage items: that was long time ago

Since the cost of one piece of Magdoos, stuffed eggplant, costs 100 SP, most people stopped thinking about storing food. The storing food was a big part of Syrians keeping food for the harsh winter days. Om Hussein used to store 100 kilos of Magdoos a year. Now she decided store only 15 kilo due to big costs because she does not want her children to forget how it tastes.

The Magdoos is stuffed with red pepper and walnuts. A kilo of pepper reached 500 SP, but the cut ones found in markets like Sarouja cost 1500 SP.

The prices of the rest of the products do not make poeple happy and had a rocket increased regardless of the Dollar value. The expectation of the market says an egg plate will reach 1500 SP in the coming days. This increase usually precedes Eid celebrations. Lack of basic food items also contributes to the increase because of the greed of traders and manipulation of prices. Most of the trades are allied by regime and no one can hold them accountable.

Cheese, yougurt, and vegetables are not outside the increased pricces. Mahmoud who works in Baramkeh market said barcely in its season reached 50 SP.

What is very ironic for people is the last visit of minister of supplies to markets and bakeries and considered his visit a funny act especially his orders to close some stores in a greedy markets violating life of Syrians.

Some residents in regime-controlled areas started envying other Syrians living in Douma in the outskirts because at least they eat what they plant and has been resisting the blockade for 4 years.

The appeals of people are not heard by the regime and his traders. People who are paying the highest price of the difficult economic life conditions. They are threatened at any minute to have their sons taken to fronts, and the most important that they live under a gangster regime that is taken them to the unknown.