Cost of war in Syria reaches $22 billion

Syrian Deputy Prime Minister of Service Affairs Omar Ghalawanji said on Sunday that the cost of the war in his country has now reached $22.7 billion, Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper reported.

However, Ghalawanji also warned that the real cost is actually higher than this figure because a complete evaluation of the damages has yet to be determined. As of now, he noted that there is at least $5 billion in direct damages and $17.6 billion in indirect damages.

In October 2013, Syrian Prime Minister Wael Al-Halqi estimated the damages to both the private and public sectors to be about $16.5 billion.

Tourism Minister Reyad Al-Yazji said in September of last year that the tourism industry had lost $2.1 billion since the beginning of the crisis. The following month, Syrian Minister of Industry Kamal Toma indicated that the losses to the industrial sector had reached $2.2 billion.

The Syrian government says it is planning to compensate its citizens for the losses to their properties. According to Ghalawanji, his government has already allocated $209 million for this year’s compensations, about $140 million more than last year.

“The Syrian government receives the funds needed for reconstruction from the state’s public budget,” Ghalawanji said. “We do not have any loans or aid from other sources,” he added.

Experts say that almost all economic sectors in Syria have been badly affected by the on-going war in the country. Investment, tourism and external trade are now negligible.

Sources: Al-Jazeera and AFP