Employees of the Assad government’s institutions in Hama are complaining about the repeated delays in paying their salaries for the month of December.
Local activists quoted government employees who spoke on condition of anonymity as saying that accountants in the government departments in Hama told them the government simply does not have money to send to Hama.
The activists said that the government employees have expressed their anger about the repeated delays and procrastination. The added that the government directorates in Hama have repeatedly told the employees that they would be paid soon.
According to various reports, the Assad regime suffers from a severe economic deficit. The country’s general budget stood at $13 billion in 2011, compared with $8.92 billion in 2019. The deficit in the budget for the current year was 42.8 percent.
According to Omran Center for Strategic Studies, the Assad regime’s talk about resorting to borrowing from the Central Bank to fund the budget deficit is an ineffective measure. Reports indicated that the regime owes $60 billion worth of foreign debt, while reliable reports confirmed that foreign currency reserves in Syria declined from $20 billion to just $700 million.
Syrians with low incomes in the regime-held areas suffer difficult economic conditions, caused mainly by the collapse of the Syrian pound against the US dollar which is currently traded for about 450 Syrian pounds per dollar, up from 48 pounds in early 2011. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
