Syrian president doubles public sector wages as national currency spirals downwards

Syria’s president early Wednesday doubled public sector wages and pensions as the war-torn country’s national currency spiraled further downwards, reaching a new low for the year. President Bashar Assad issued the two decrees just before midnight Tuesday as the Syrian pound’s value against the U.S. dollar declined to a new low since the beginning of 2023, down from 7,000 to 15,000 pounds to the greenback. For over a year, Damascus has been restructuring its program of subsidies for gasoline, diesel for heating, and bread.