ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Syrian economist on Wednesday criticized the country's interim government for failing to deliver a promised 400 percent salary increase for civil servants, saying many remain unpaid nearly four months after the decision was announced.
Following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime on December 8, 2024, the new Syrian administration has struggled to pay civil servants' salaries. While a decision was made in early January to increase salaries by 400 percent, its implementation has been delayed.
Syrian Trade Minister Maher Khalil al-Hasan told Rudaw in January that the increase would take effect in "days, not a long time." However, economist Khorshid Elika told Rudaw that "so far, they have not even paid the previous salaries to civil servants."
“The Syrian interim government had promised to increase civil servants' salaries by 400%," Elika said.
According to Elika, Syria has 1.3 million civil servants, of whom 900,000 are not receiving their salaries, while another 400,000 have been removed from their jobs under various pretexts.
But the Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES) “pays the salaries of its civil servants and employees regularly,” according to Elika.
Qatar was reportedly set to help finance the salary increase, but US sanctions have posed an obstacle. Since taking charge, the new leadership in Damascus has pushed for the lifting of international sanctions.
However, observers have urged the international community to tie any relief to concrete benchmarks, including commitments to an inclusive political process.