Damascus- Prime Minister Hussein Arnous said on Tuesday that the illegitimate Western coercive economic measures imposed on Syria are the cause of the suffering of its people.
In an interview with the national television “Al-Suriya”, Arnous stressed that the subsidy policy is an essential component of the Syrian economy and there will be no change in it, but its forms may vary to ensure that the subsidy reaches its beneficiaries.
“For example, the State subsidizes bread daily with SYP 5 to 6 billion, and it will never withdraw this subsidy but will restructure it to reach the segments that deserve it,” he clarified.
The Premier explained that the government’s recent decision to modify the prices of bread and diesel was one of the difficult decisions that took a long time to study.
“We all know that a package of bread today costs the State 1200 Syrian pounds and a liter of diesel costs SYP 1,967, therefore, the package of bread continues to be subsidized by a thousand pounds and the liter of fuel by about 1500 Syrian pounds”, he added.
Arnous went on saying that before the war, Syria used to produce 365 thousand barrels of oil per day, of which it used to export about 200 thousand barrels and it used to consume 180 thousand barrels, but today, due to the control of criminal gangs and the US occupation of oil fields, the State produces in the areas under its control about 18 thousand barrels.
Also, he clarified that the recent increase in the price of diesel has achieved monthly income of SYP 64 billion while the salary increase costs the state SYP 84 billion.
He denounced that the United States intensified its economic war against Syria and intensified the economic blockade and unilateral coercive measures, which had a negative impact on everything related to what the citizen needs.
The so-called “Caesar Act” was not the first of these illegitimate measures nor the last, and it affects the friends of Syria,” he added.
Regarding the electricity situation, Arnous said that in Syria before the war it used to generate 9,000 megawatts and we reached a stage where we exported electricity to Lebanon and other countries.
Due to the terrorist attacks, today we have facilities that generate 5,000 megawatts but only 2,300 megawatts are generated due to lack of gas and fuel since the US occupation forces control the oil and gas fields, he said.
“We are a country that has faced a blockade for ten years, and our money is being stolen, and unfortunately today the whole world is silent about plundering wheat and oil from Syria, but we will remain firm and we will not compromise our sovereignty,” he concluded.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)