Why are Syrians struggling with the cost of living under President Ahmed al-Sharaa?

BBC Middle East correspondent Hugo Bachega reported that nearly two years after the fall of the Assad regime, many Syrians blame government subsidy cuts for making bread, petrol and electricity more expensive. Syrian economist Samir Aita said subsidies were removed without any social protection to replace them, while prices rise and jobs are scarce, and warned of chaos if policy does not change.

Fatima, a 50-year-old house cleaner, said her grocery bill doubled in a year and her family no longer buys meat.
Pensioner Nabil's family has cut to one meal a day; electricity costs about a third of their income.
Some households switch off the fridge for about five hours a day to save power.

▸In their words

“It's unsustainable. And if they don't change, I fear of chaos.” Samir Aita · at 20:33 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on Global News Podcast (2026-10-30). Read the whole episode summary →

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