Syria Denies Return of Smart Card Under “Safety Card” Name

Hassan al-Ahmad, director of the Media Department at Syria’s Ministry of Economy and Industry, told Enab Baladi that he denies reports circulating on social media about reactivating the “smart card” under a new name, the “Safety Card,” stressing that the claim is entirely false.

Al-Ahmad said the image being circulated on the issue was fabricated and had no connection to the Ministry of Economy and Industry.

He stressed that this type of card was permanently scrapped with the end of the former regime, adding that the government’s current approach is based on consolidating a free market economy, boosting competitiveness, and empowering the private sector.

He added that the aim is to move toward modern economic policies based on efficiency and transparency, instead of restrictive subsidy models.

Pages on social media had circulated reports about reactivating the smart card system under a new name, the “Safety Card,” as part of a plan to reorganize the distribution of essential goods.

Under the purported new system, citizens would be able to obtain bread, rice, and sugar at subsidized prices through the card, using an updated distribution mechanism. This raised questions among citizens about the nature of the “subsidy” whose redistribution was being discussed after it had already been canceled.

According to the circulated claims, the project would also be gradually expanded in later phases to include gasoline and gas, with the aim of “controlling subsidies” and improving distribution efficiency.

The denied information also said that this direction comes “within the framework of restructuring the subsidy system, amid mounting economic challenges, with expectations of a direct impact on citizens’ daily lives.”

What Is the “Smart Card”?

In late 2019, the government of the former Syrian regime, in cooperation with the Ministries of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection and of Oil and Mineral Resources, began preparing the infrastructure for the “smart card” project, which was intended to secure basic goods and commodities at prices set by the ministry in Syrian Trade Institution outlets.

The Ministry of Internal Trade considered that operating through the “smart card” system would limit price manipulation and monopolies, and create a “balanced price” in the market.

Takamol sponsored the “smart card” project. The company was 30% owned by Mohannad al-Dabbagh, a cousin of Asma al-Assad, the wife of deposed Syrian regime president Bashar al-Assad, while the largest share was held by Asma’s brother, Firas al-Akhras.

At the time, the government launched two types of cards, one an “automatic card” for selling gasoline to car owners who met the required conditions, and the other a “family card” that included certain food items such as rice, sugar, and oil, among others, in specific and limited quantities at prices lower than the market rate.

Use of the “smart card” led to the creation of three different prices in the Syrian market, the price of goods for the “subsidized” category within the card, the price of goods for the “non-subsidized” category also within the card, and the “free” price, or what was referred to as the “black market” or the “underground economy.”

These were not banned markets or tax-evading ones, but rather markets that emerge when domestic production and imports fail to cover internal demand, causing demand to outstrip supply.

In such cases, goods and commodities are sold at prices higher than their real value to those willing to pay more because of scarcity, in violation of prevailing economic and financial rules.

The adoption of the smart card at the time sparked broad controversy because Takamol, the company that managed and implemented the process under the formal cover of government institutions, was linked to businessmen close to the Assad family, especially Asma al-Assad’s family.

Although the Syrian regime described the smart card project at the time as a solution to address problems and as an economic reform aimed at regulating state subsidies, curbing the black market, and reducing waste in the distribution of fuel and rationed goods, the measure drew major criticism and caused significant problems.

Among the most prominent problems the regime faced, and which Syrians still remember, were the persistence of long queues, shortages of subsidized goods, complicated procedures, and the system’s role in spreading corruption.

The post Syria Denies Return of Smart Card Under “Safety Card” Name appeared first on Enab Baladi.