Many questions are being asked regarding how Syrians manage their situation during Eid in the face of huge price inflation in comparison with the irrationally low wages and pensions.
Experts said that a family of five needs about one million Syrian pounds at a minimum as holiday expenses.
Many people believe that Syrian remittances fill a wide range of these needs, especially on holidays where remittance rates from abroad are high.
Read Also: Shop Owners in Damascus Charge Rent in USD
Economist Dr. Abed Fadliah told al-Watan over the phone that it was very difficult to estimate the amount of Syrian remittances from abroad.
He added that semi-official estimates have always indicated that the average daily remittances are between $5 million and $7 million. However, the large number and distribution of Syrians abroad and the dispatch of many remittances outside official channels make it difficult to make estimates on total remittances.
It is likely that one-third of Syrians depend mainly on external remittances, which usually rise with holidays and other events such as the beginning of the school year, supply seasons, and others.
Many experts consider that the state of contradiction between wages and the simplest requirements of daily living has induced a necessity to find serious and real approaches to wages and pensions without the government returning to recover any increase in wages and pensions by raising the prices of some basic commodities and materials. This comes in parallel to controlling the state of chaos in the markets and finding solutions to the state of corruption and failure of consumer protection agencies.
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.
