DAMASCUS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Syria's public revenue more than doubled in the first half of 2026 from a year earlier, while government spending more than quadrupled, chief of finance authorities Mohammad Yusr Barniyeh said on Monday.
Total public revenue reached about 2.7 billion U.S. dollars during the first six months of the year, while public expenditure stood at approximately 3.7 billion dollars, Barniyeh said on social media platform X, citing a report on the state budget's first-half performance.
Compared with the first half of 2025, public revenue increased by around 111 percent, while expenditure surged by approximately 331 percent, he said.
Barniyeh attributed the sharp rise in spending mainly to increases in salaries and wages, expanded expenditure on government priorities, and higher costs for some goods, services and production inputs due to regional developments and rising import prices. ■
