A mid-term review of Syria's 10th five-year economic plan reveals that the Syrian economy suffers from a weak investment environment, low productivity, a feeble private sector, low prices for primary products , and sharp international competition.
The report which covers the review said that imbalances identified before the plan was enacted remain, and criticized the slow pace of institution building, the low quality of technology applied, and the absence of coordination between the various sectors. The report also highlights the problem of unemployment, particularly among youth, and the inequality in income distribution between individuals and within different areas of the country.
The report appears to question the high rates of growth by the government and calls for the application of standards to measure their staying power in the medium- and long-term. Investments, both public and private, have declined by 12% in the two years of 2006 and 2007, while worker productivity has remained modest in comparison with developing countries. Manufacturing industry, in contrast to the objectives of the five-year plan, has declined due to the outmoded machinery and the paucity of workers’ skills.
In terms of poverty and income distribution, the report points out that 12.2% of the population lives under the severe poverty line [by World Bank criteria it means living at less than $2 a day per capita] while another 34.5% of the total population live below the poverty line. Wages in real terms declined by 3.2% in 2008 (an improvement of a decline of 9.9% in 2005). Water pollution is severe and the average availability of water has declined to 747 cu. meters per person per annum, which is below the 1000 cu. meters considered water poverty line.
Finally, the report points out that the collection of revenues has not improved because of a failure to develop the taxation administration and because of widespread tax evasion.
Source: Al-Thawra, Syria, October 25, 2009
