DAMASCUS, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday ordered a 100-percent salary raise as the government sharply raised the fuel prices, according to the state news agency SANA.
The salary increase, covering state employees, retirees, and military personnel, is the ninth since 2011 when the Syrian war broke out. The country's economy has since been mired in an economic crisis.
Prior to the decision, the monthly salary of civil servants had been between around 10 and 25 U.S. dollars, depending on the Syrian pound's street value.
Also on Tuesday night, the Syrian Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection raised the prices of diesel fuel for transportation and bakeries by about 180 percent, and normal-octane gasoline by about 165 percent.
The hike in fuel prices caused a state of chaos on the streets as many bus drivers rejected to go to work on Wednesday. The price hike also led to a disruption in food prices, which have gone up between 30 and 100 percent overnight. ■
