A report issued by the Central Bank of Syria revealed that the annual inflation rate in December of 2019 reached 34.52 percent, up by 30.72 percentage points, compared to December 2018, when the inflation rate was 3.80 percent.
Comparing the rate with the inflation recorded in the month of November 2019, which reached 19.20 percent, the inflation rate went up by 15.32 percentage points.
The monthly inflation rate was 14.96 percent in December 2019, 12.26 percent higher than the 2.71 percent monthly inflation rate in November 2019.
By interpreting the annual inflation rate in December 2019, based on the relative contributions of the components of the consumer price basket, it was found that it increased compared to December 2018, and this increase is due to an increase in all contributions.
The contribution of the food and non-alcoholic beverages component increased, registering 18.66 percent compared to 1.72 percent, the transportation component’s contribution increased by 3.20 percent compared to 0.42 percent, and the household equipment and regular maintenance component’s contribution was 2.16 percent compared to 0.07 percent, according to the report.
The contribution of the restaurants and hotels component increased by 1.95 percent compared to 0.67 percent. The contribution of the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels component registered a percentage of 1.70 percent compared to 0.23 percent. The contribution of the clothing and footwear component registered 1.65 percent compared to 0. 21 percent. The contribution of the miscellaneous goods and services component registered a rate of 1.46 percent compared to 0.25 percent. The contribution of the health component was recorded at 1.29 percent compared to 0.25 percent. The contribution of the alcoholic beverages and tobacco component was recorded at 1.29 percent compared to 0.29 percent. The contribution of the promotion component registered a rate of 0.55 percent compared to 0.11 percent, and the contribution of the education component registered a rate of 0.54 percent compared to 0.14 percent. The contribution of the communications component registered a rate of 0.08 percent, while it has no contribution in December of the previous year. The non-profit promotion and culture component had little contribution to the annual inflation rate for December of 2019.
The regime has been in the habit of justifying the inflation in its areas of control as fake or caused by crisis, as it usually describes it, and this is the first time that explanatory data has been published.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
