The Syrian government has raised the prices of subsidized gasoline and diesel that power factories, exacerbating the country’s fuel scarcity crisis and an accelerating economic collapse.

The decision was made to help offset "the large costs borne by the government to secure oil derivatives and the high freight and transportation fees in light of the unjust blockade imposed by the US administration on Syria and its people,” said the Ministry of Trade and Consumer Protection.

The price of a liter of subsidized gasoline rose from 250 to 450 pounds, and industrial diesel from 296 to 650, according to the official news agency SANA Tuesday night.

The official exchange rate is 1,250 pounds to the dollar, and about 2,200 pounds in the black market.

The price hike coincided with President Bashar al-Assad’s issuance Wednesday of two legislative decrees: the first included a financial grant for civil and military employees, and the second adjusted the minimum wages that are exempt from tax. Meanwhile, more than eighty percent of Syrians live under the poverty line according to the United Nations.

The government-controlled areas of Syria have been witnessing for years a severe fuel crisis and long rationing hours due to the lack of fuel and gas needed to operate the power plants, which prompted it to take a series of austerity measures.

The economic sanctions imposed prevent the regular arrival of oil shipments. The US Caesar Penal Code, which came into effect in June, has only exacerbated the difficulties the already ailing economy faces.

The US sanctions against Tehran, the most prominent backer of Damascus, have also exacerbated the fuel crisis in Syria, which relies on a credit line linking it to Iran to secure it.

Economic analysts expect a "inevitable increase" in prices and raw materials related to oil derivatives.

Since the start of the conflict in 2011, the oil and gas sector has suffered major losses estimated at more than $74 billion due to the fighting and the decline in production with the government losing control of major fields in addition to economic sanctions.

The price hike exacerbates the suffering of Syrians, who wait in long lines to obtain subsidized gasoline and complain about the high prices and the continuous rise in prices.

Ghaida wrote on Facebook, "Everything will increase in price due to the increase in fuel (..) I am not a government employee ... How will I benefit from the grant? Is there anyone who will require private sector companies?"

One of the two decrees issued by al-Assad stipulates that a one-time grant will be disbursed in a lump sum of fifty thousand Syrian pounds (about 23 dollars according to the parallel market), provided that it is exempt from income tax or any deduction, according to what the presidency of the republic stated on its official platforms.

The second decree includes amending "the minimum tax-exempt income for salaries and wages to 50 thousand Syrian pounds instead of 15 thousand."