Syria slashes gas oil subsidy, tripling price

The Syrian government more than tripled the price of gas oil on Saturday, kicking off a program to remove big subsidies on the fuel.

Pump owners said a liter of gas oil went up to the equivalent of 54 U.S. cents from 15 cents. The state imports large volumes of the fuel at around $1 liter.

Gas oil is used in Syria on a large scale for industry, transport and heating. The gas oil price increase came as the government announced a 25 percent hike in public sector salaries to help the population absorb rising living costs and the impact of subsidy cuts.

The increase, which will take effect this month, covers 2 million public workers and retirees, the state news agency said. Syria has a population of 18 million.
Reuters