Baladi News – Damascus (Hussam Mohammed)
What is happening in the city of Damascus under the grab of the Syrian regime and Hezbollah militia! Shops are found in main and bystreets, but it is very difficult to buy items at the same price from two shops that are few meters apart.
Many Syrian citizens in the capital Damascus emphasized that the regime and its militias are stealing the money that lost its value and became barely enough for people to buy something to keep them alive.
Activist “Jaber al-Dimashki” told Baladi News that “monitoring that is supposed to be achieved by Assad government authorities is nonexistent and that the authorities’ role is limited to receiving formal taxes and royalties imposed by the security forces and the regime thugs.”
The speaker added that “such a situation drives shops to raise the prices as most suppliers of goods are heads of security centers or people that have close ties to the regime. These parties specify the prices as they liked under the regime policy of impoverishing the supporters before the rivals in order to keep them at its mercy. Due to the fact that a network of few major dealers govern the market and control its supply chains, the prices are many times higher than what is announced by the regime consumer’s establishment that seems to be detached from reality as if it were on another planet.”
The Syrian regime manipulates the prices to unbelievable extents under many pretexts, mainly the decrease in the value of the Syrian pound as compared to the U.S. Dollar. The network of dealers controlling the market work closely with Assad’s regime in the areas under its control in order to push civilians into abyss by crazily increasing the prices of the basic life needs without any limitations.