Syria's broken economy

Business Daily

BBC

Business

4.4 • 796 Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2023

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We hear from people protesting in the government-controlled city of Sweida.

Criticism of President Bashar al-Assad has been growing in Sweida since demonstrations began in mid-August over the removal of fuel subsidies. It's the latest measure that has put a strain on people suffering from an economic meltdown.

A resident and activist tells us what life is like for him living in the city, plus we hear from a Syrian economist, and a form adviser to President al_Assad now based in the US.

Presenter: Ed Butler

(Image: People protest in the Syria's southern city of Sweida on September 1, 2023. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there, I'm Ed Butler. Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC. Today, the inside story from one Syrian city where the people have had enough.
0:11.5	We've had just four hours of electricity. The inflation rate is 17,000 percent. The unemployment rate is 25%. Our dreams have been shattered.
0:23.5	What life is like for people inside government-controlled Syria and what this means for the country's
0:30.1	future. People may hate Bashar, at least a big segment of them, but wanting to replace him
0:36.4	is a different thing.
0:39.1	Syria's broken economy.
0:41.8	That's here on Business Daily from the BBC.
0:53.5	The hustle and bustle of a street market in what sounds like a rather special place,
0:58.4	Suweda, population just under 100,000, near to Syria's southern border. Oh, the city is, it's fresh air every day. There is no like skyscrapers. It's just,
1:08.7	you know, families going to their work. And we're on a mountain,
1:12.1	you know, Sweda is like one big mountain. So we can see three countries ahead because we are so high
1:18.5	up. So it is very, very beautiful, like, peace. You make it sound idyllic, but life is not easy
1:26.0	at the moment. I'm the only person that is looking up at the blue sky.
1:31.7	Everyone around me is just looking on the floor.
1:35.9	This man, we're going to call him Jude for the purposes of this program.
1:40.1	He's an activist and he's a resident of the city of Sweda.
1:43.5	And the reason he says that people are so downcast here, well, it's the economy,
1:49.5	which seems to be disintegrating before their very eyes.
1:52.8	To demonstrate, Jude recorded this video from the main market,
1:57.2	showing tables heaving with farm produce, which few locals can afford to buy.
2:04.6	Today is Macduz season.
2:07.7	Macduce is where we take eggplants and we put peppers inside it.
	...

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