Syrian inflation increased 200%

Prof. Steve Hanks of John Hopkins University Department of Economics has said alarm bells rang for Syrian economy where inflation hit 200 percent due to the civil war. "Syria's annual inflation rate increased 200 percent and Syrian inflation is around 34 percent," Hanke told Anadolu Agency. "The Syrian Pound lost 66.2 percent in value in the last 12 months. The Syrian inflation accompanies the drop in the currency, however, it is difficult to access reliable data," he added. Stating that Iran, China and Russia were working to support Syrian economy, Hanke said, "The Assad regime has begun conducting trade in riyal, ruble and renminbi to prevent the Syrian Pound from losing value in cooperation with Russia and China. Syria also has a 500 million dollar worth of petrol trade and an infinite credit limit with Tehran on food and petrochemistry products."