Syria’s government has brought in a new tax on shawarma sandwiches and a raft of other levies on everyday life as it struggles to fill its coffers more than four years into a grinding civil war.

Syria: Assad question means common front against Isis still a long way off Read more

The shawarma, a popular Middle Eastern dish of grilled spiced meat cut into thin slices, exemplifies how the government’s drive for revenues has spread into all corners of the economy. The currency has plunged and revenues have slowed to a trickle, particularly as the government has come under sanctions preventing exports and lost control of much of the country’s oil and gas resources.



“Last week I had to pay 220 Syrian pounds (US$1) for my shawarma sandwich instead of 200 and the restaurant owner told me it was because there’s a new 10% ‘reconstruction tax’ that’s being imposed on each sandwich,” 50-year-old Damascus resident Tahseen told Agence France-Presse.



The tourism ministry has begun taxing restaurants based on the number of diners they can accommodate. Other steps have included cutting subsidies for bread, which increased in price three times in 2014, and higher prices for water and electricity.

The state telecommunications company, which has a monopoly on landlines, has doubled monthly subscription fees for its 4.5 million subscribers.

That in theory ought to bring in some 10.8bn Syrian pounds (US$308m) but online economic journal the Syria Report noted that the company’s subscriber base had plummeted because up to 40% of its network was damaged.

Property rents also face new taxes and the government has sought to squeeze revenue out of issuing and renewing passports, raising fees while lifting some restrictions to bring in around US$520m since the start of the year, according to the interior ministry.

It has stemmed the outflow of foreign currency, limiting import licences and giving priority to those seeking raw materials for the production of dairy products, canned foods, medicines, detergents and textiles inside Syria.

All public administrations have been ordered to reduce their energy consumption by 30% and eliminate thousands of temporary government employee contracts.

Despite the regime’s efforts, “the future is bleak” for Syria’s economy and the government’s finances, said Jihad Yazigi, editor-in-chief of the Syria Report, an online economic journal.



“The state will be forced to slash its spending even further. And since it won’t be able to touch military spending, it will cut public services and not repair what is damaged, and people will become poorer and poorer. They will be forced increasingly to dip into their savings and many will look to emigrate.”

The country’s economy has been ravaged by a conflict that began in March 2011 and has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people while pushed more than four million to become refugees.



When the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime began the governor of the central bank announced the country had reserves of some $18bn. Experts say much of that has been used up, though it is impossible to know how much remains.

“The regime has less and less foreign currency, revenues have dried up, the war effort is becoming more taxing and its two main donors, Russia and Iran, have their own financial problems,” said Yazigi.

Since March 2011 Iran has extended Syria some $5.5bn in credit lines but Russia in November 2014 decided against a $1bn loan.

Revenues have slowed to a trickle, particularly as the government has come under sanctions that prevent exports and lost control of much of the country’s oil and gas resources. The oil minister has acknowledged some $58bn in direct and indirect losses to the oil and gas sector since the war began.

With the capture by the Islamic State jihadis of most of Syria’s eastern oil fields, the government now produces just 9,688 barrels a day, down from 380,000 before the war. Refined output – made up of Syrian and imported oil – has sunk from 112,000 barrels a day in 2014 to just 80,000 barrels, and gas production is down to 12m cubic metres a day from 27m five years ago.

The 2016 budget projects a 31% deficit, similar to that of 2015, prompting the government to rein in spending and impose new taxes.

With AFP