The collapsing value of the Turkish lira is having a devastating impact on residents of Syria’s Idlib province, Deutsche Welle reported on Wednesday.
Idlib, the last stronghold of Islamist rebel groups opposed to the government of Bashar al-Assad, adopted the lira in the summer of 2020 to stabilise prices following a rapid depreciation in the Syrian pound, but has since been hit by the volatility affecting the Turkish currency, DW said.
Turkey has sought to bring Idlib increasingly under its influence and has troops stationed at key points throughout the rebel-controlled province.
The lira plunged to a record low of 13.96 per dollar late on Tuesday, compounding losses of more than 45 percent in value this year, including a 30 percent fall in November alone.
As a result, basic goods have become increasingly expensive in Idlib, local residents told DW.
“When the lira lost so much value, stores and merchants immediately raised prices,” according to Khadija, a local hairdresser and carer for her disabled brothers, who was recently forced to take on extra work.
“I work a lot,” she said. “My father used to be able to provide for us on his own. His salary today is only enough for the food we need.”
Idlib’s economy was already failing to meet the needs of locals amid the impact of conflict and COVID-19, Zaki Mehchy of British think tank Chatham House told the German broadcaster.
“We are talking about smuggling networks and we’re talking about smugglers who control the local economy there,” he said.
“That’s why they depend a lot on goods coming from Turkey or from regime-controlled areas or even from the Kurdish controlled areas… They’re paying extra money because these areas are suffering from an increase in the prices of basic goods,” he added.
With much of the local population already dependent on aid, local NGOs worry that price rises will make food and energy unaffordable during the coming winter.
“Most workers and employees get their daily wages paid in Turkish lira and live on that basis. If things continue like this, people will soon hardly be able to afford bread. Currently, the only way to help is through food donations or money,” DW cited Medico International’s Till Küster as saying.
“There are people who earn just 100 lira a week”, local hairdresser Khadija said. “How can you afford paying 157 lira for a gas bottle for cooking?”
Ahval