Syrian PM: Government Will Hold Accountable Those Who Exploit Citizens’ Livelihood
Syrian Prime Minister Dr. Wael al-Halqi on Saturday affirmed that the government’s daily concern is providing Syrians’ necessities, and that the government will not allow anyone to undermine the Syrians’ steadfastness.
This came during a meeting of the committee for studying the state of national economy in light of the current challenges posed by unjust sanctions and the current crisis.
Premier al-Halqi said that the committee’s work will produce new decisions and procedures soon that will boost national economy and improve the Syrian Pound exchange rate, in addition to improving the living standards of all Syrians.
He stressed that the government will hold accountable those who exploit citizens’ livelihood to make illicit gains, and that this will coincide with new mechanisms for monitoring the markets, curb price rises, increase income and reduce costs.
Al-Halqi said that the victories of the Syrian Army which is restoring stability and security across Syria and the success of national dialogue will create suitable groundwork for implementing important economic procedures.
On the issue of positive intervention in the currency exchange markets, Governor of Central Bank of Syria (CBS) Dr. Adib Mayyaleh said this intervention will continue in order to protect the Syrian Pound from speculation and provide foreign currency to fund imports.
He pointed out that currency exchange companies purchased EUR 5.3 million of the 100 million sum which the CBS offered for sale, with 43 million more still being processed and will be provided as soon as paperwork is completed.
Regarding economic cooperation with Iran, Mayyaleh said that Iran is continuing to provide support for Syria by offering a credit line for funding imports valued at USD 1 billion, and a credit line valued at USD 3 billion to import oil and petroleum products, in addition to an easy credit loan valued at USD 3 billion.
PM: We Have Sufficient Reserve of Qualitative Medicines
Earlier, Prime Minister al-Halqi stressed the government’s support for the national health policy, noting that projects to establish hospitals specialized in tumor treatment in several province are underway.
“The government supports all efforts of the health institutions and the parties concerned to work as a team to develop the health policies and upgrade the services,” said al-Halqi, attending a symposium on “The Situation of Tumors in Syria.”
He pointed out that realizing the goals of the future policies requires increasing the number of the institutions specialized in tumor research and treatment.
The Premier highlighted the importance of benefiting from the national register of tumors being an advanced step in the field of research that can be built on with regard to distributing roles among all the bodies working in the health domain.
He noted that there is a decision to import medicines for special tumors from the friendly countries such as Russia, China, Iran and Cuba, stressing the existence of a sufficient reserve of qualitative medicines at the hospitals and medical institutions in all the provinces.
Doctors and experts attending the symposium presented a review of the situation of tumors in Syria, noting that lung cancer is the most common type of cancers in Syria and the world and that cancer deaths come in the second place among the causes of deaths in Syria following heart disease.
Dr. Walid a-Saleh, Professor of Pathology at Damascus University said that large proportion of cancer cases can be controlled through changing dietary habits and reducing the exposure to pollution, radiations, hormones and chemicals.
