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Although the phenomenon of high prices was the common denominator that brought most of the world together during the emerging epidemic crisis, in the Syrian case it was more dangerous considering the high levels of poverty recorded during the war years, since the International estimates issued before the last two high waves indicate that there are around 85% of Syrians in poverty, while the three food security surveys conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics in recent years, concluded that almost a third Syrians are food insecure. This issue raises questions about the sources of income that families turned to in order to secure their needs for the necessary materials and products, especially those imposed by preventive health measures, and the “horrible” prices registered in most markets, including popular markets where the citizen used to find some “mercy”.
34 sources of income
Under the pressure of the large price increase, estimated at between 200 and 300%, most families have been forced to program their priorities according to their financial capacities in parallel with the search for new sources of income to help them cover the costs imposed by the spread of the Corona virus. In fact, the economic conditions in which the country has been living since before the virus appeared forced Dr. Shafiq Arbash, professor at the University of Damascus Faculty of Economics, “Many families have to adjust their budgets so that only buy the minimum sterilization materials at the expense of some food products, while there are families that did not pay attention to the issue due to very weak purchasing power.
This can be inferred, for example, by the number of people wearing medical masks in crowded popular markets, in the preservation of many families of their consumption habits represented in ensuring what they need to prepare their food (day after day) and in the food bill that each family costs. There are families who spent generously and bought what helps them “nightmare” sitting at home, and there are families who were forced to spend their savings or borrow or even sell some of their remaining properties to form a modest “reserve” of food .
These are options that are not new to Syrian life, as they are one of the documented sources of income according to the 2009 Family Income and Expenditure Survey, which at that time identified 34 sources of Syrian family income, including 51.17 % of the monthly salary, so the income generated by the operations of the family establishment is 24.36%, so the pension is 4.61%. Regarding transfers and cash gifts received from abroad, their percentage did not exceed 3.25%, and the same applies to transfers and cash gifts received from within, which amounted to 3% at that time.
Today, the circumstances of the war have not only changed the percentage of contribution of these sources to Syrian incomes, but have also added new sources, especially in relation to in-kind aid assistance provided by the government, civil society or international organizations, as well as income derived from participation in illegal activities. That flourished in various regions. According to data from the Third Food Security Survey, the monthly salary has constituted 56% of the family’s sources of income, and external cash transfers have increased their rate to form around 8%, which, in the eyes of many, it is greater than that if incoming transfers to families are calculated by methods other than Legal.
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The high demand for the purchase and storage of food products during the last period raised several questions, including those related to the credibility of the declared indices on the spread of poverty in light of that demand, including what was devoted to research in the sudden recovery of purchasing power, and the sources of income that were used to cover that recovery.
In the absence of statistical indicators on the size of what was spent during the last period and the quantity of the main products sold, it is not possible to say that all the families were able to form a sufficient food ration for several days or weeks. There are families that have found themselves unable to provide sustenance for their day, as they used to do before. This conclusion is supported by a statistical investigation that confirmed that there are families that have modified their food strategy to go from nutritional status to simply achieve fullness, with evidence that the average household expenditure on food did not exceed 55 thousand pounds per month. according to the results of the third unpublished food security survey.
Foreign cash transfers represent about 8% of household income
Even families who, with the onset of the Corona crisis, were able to buy some of their food needs, could not survive longer if the crisis lasted longer than expected. In this regard, the head of the Syrian Commission on Family and Population Affairs, Dr. Akram Al-Qash, says that “most families have been forced to resort to the provision of their few savings, which they are savings to spend, not to accumulate. “
Other families whose sole support in this crisis were external financial transfers, which according to Dr. Arbash “constitute an important source of income after wages and salaries.” And estimates say the volume of foreign remittances is estimated at $ 5 million a day. Perhaps this is what led the government to exclude remittance companies from recent measures and allowed them to work in light of fears that the volume of remittances will fall to the limits of two million dollars per day.
Although it is said that some families resort to the option of selling some of their gold holdings to face the new financial burdens, the goldsmith shops in Damascus, according to what one of the goldsmiths mentioned, has not registered a clear movement in selling goldsmiths since they were allowed to return to work.
