Reuters: Qatar plans to help boost Syrian government salaries

The total monthly price tag for salaries including the increase is around $120 million

Qatar is planning to help finance a massive boost in public sector wages promised by Syria’s new government, a US official and a senior diplomat said to Reuters, vital assistance to the new Islamist rulers in Damascus a month after they toppled Bashar Al-Assad.

The support for the new Syrian administration has been made possible by a US sanctions exemption issued by Washington on Monday, allowing for transactions with governing institutions in Syria for six months.

An Arab official said talks on Qatar funding Syrian government salaries were under way and nothing had been finalised, adding that other countries, including Saudi Arabia may join in the effort.

A Saudi official told Reuters that the Kingdom was committed to working with regional and international partners to help support Syria and that its current support is «focused on humanitarian aid including food, shelter and medical supplies».

Qatar, a long-time backer of the Syrian armed uprising against Assad, had been lobbying Washington heavily to issue the sanctions exemption so it could provide funding in an official manner, the US official and the diplomat said.

The total monthly price tag for salaries including the increase is around $120 million, with more than 1.25 million workers on the public-sector payroll, the new Finance Minister of Syria said.