Syria raises salaries of public sector by 25 percent

The Syrian government announced on Saturday an increase of 25 percent in public sector salaries to compensate the surging prices of food and energy, the state-run SANA news agency reported.

The wage rise, announced in two decrees issued by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for incumbent and retired state employees, becomes effective as from May.

More than two million of the country's 15 million population will be affected by the rise, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Hussein said.

"This is part of the government's efforts to improve incomes," Hussein said, adding that the increase will cost 58 billion Syrian pounds (some 1.26 billion U.S. dollars).

The pay rise came amid a food price hike in Syria and the decision of the Syrian government to remove subsidies on fuel, which cost 9 billion dollars a year.

On Saturday, the price of heating oil jumped about 350 percent to 25 Syrian pounds (about 54 U.S. cent) per liter.

During the past week, the prices of foodstuff, including vegetables, meat, milk and cereals, have risen by 30-60 percent.

In the past two years, the gasoline price also went up sharply to 40 Syrian pounds (about 87 cents) a liter.