Eqtsad)- The popular dishes in the Syrian capital are no longer included in the budget of the poor, who now constitute 80 percent of the population due to the low incomes in front of the exorbitant costs that these foods require.
In light of the rocket-high prices that include the prices of Falafel (most popular middle eastern fast food made of chickpeas, fresh herb, and spices), in addition to Hummus and shawarma, the solutions provided by the Trade and Consumer Protection Ministry seem to be ineffective.
Almost daily price bulletins updates do not keep pace with the large backward jumps in the Syrian pound, which lead to similar price jumps, forward.
-No Fair Pricing-
Residents told Eqtsad business news site that the prices of the Falafel sandwich, whose official pricing is supposed to range from 350 to 500 SP, is not sold for less than 800 SP, and for 1000 SP in other cases. Each Falafel piece is sold at a price ranging between 50 and 75, and sometimes 100 while the official price stipulates 25 pounds.
The ministry's latest bulletin set the prices for a Shawarma sandwich from 1000 to 1500 SP, according to the quantity of chicken meat inside of it. In parallel, a Eqtsad reporter recorded an increase in the prices of this food in Damascus by up to 100% over this price.
The same applies to grilled chicken, which is priced by the ministry at 11,500 SP, while it is not sold to the consumer for less than 20,000, and even 25,000 SP.
Younes Al-Karim, economic expert, told Eqtsad that the Syrian regime is planning to remove subsidies on some basic materials by reducing the price difference between the official pricing issued by the Ministry of Internal Trade and market prices.
Such a plan seeks to issue prices roughly equivalent to black market prices which is a part of the cancellation of demand and the freezing of supply and may eventually lead to the privatization of enterprises.
The Trade Ministry did not move to find a reasonable pricing that would guarantee sellers to obtain acceptable profits, and buyers had reasonable prices. For example: The 1000 SP is barely, which is the official pricing of Gave beans (in kilo), which gives the seller half the cost. Therefore, It resorts to selling at prices ranging from 2,500 to 3,200 SP per kilo of beans.
The same applies to chickpeas and Hummus where the official pricing is also unfair.
-The way to lift subsidies-
Syrian regime officials said that the official bulletins for popular dishes are unfair. Bassam Shaker, the assistant director of internal trade and consumer protection in Damascus countryside, has recently stated that the sandwich price bulletin has become outdated, pointing out that the Directorate is in the process of issuing a new bulletin for the sale of sandwiches of all kinds.
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