Conflict costs Syria over $31 billion: Syrian PM

Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi says his crisis-stricken country has suffered damage estimated more than 31 billion dollars during the foreign-sponsored Syrian militancy campaign over the past three years.

“The damage caused by the war in Syria stands at 4.7 trillion Syrian pounds ($31.3 billion dollars),” Halqi said in an exclusive interview with Damascus-based Arabic-language al-Baath newspaper on Tuesday.

He went on to say that the budget earmarked for reconstruction this year is about 50 billion Syrian pounds ($345 million), which is up from 30 billion pounds ($207 million) last year.

“The current priority for the government is to return security and stability by giving our armed forces the means to fight terrorism,” Halqi said.

The Syrian prime minister added, “There is also a need to give people the basic commodities they need to meet their needs.”

Halqi further noted that Syria has enough wheat in store to feed the population for a year.

The senior Syrian official also pointed out that the Damascus government pays 609 billion pounds (over $4.2 billion) a year in salaries to civil servants, and that it spends $300 million a month on refined petroleum products.

Syria has been the scene of deadly violence since March 2011. The Western powers and their regional allies – especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey – have been supporting the militants operating inside Syria.