DAMASCUS: Syria's government Saturday started rationing subsidized food like rice and sugar with smart cards, a ministry said, in the latest measure to address an economic crisis in the war-torn country.
The value of the Syrian pound against the dollar has plummeted on the black market in recent months, sparking price hikes on key food items.
On Saturday, thousands of Syrian families for the first time used cards with built-in microchips to track and cap their purchases of subsidised food, the ministry of internal trade and consumer protection said.
Under the new system, even the largest family cannot collect more than three kilos of rice, four kilos of sugar and one kilo of tea a month, it said on its Facebook page.
Smaller families are allowed even less according to their size.
Subsidies are key for Syrians living in government-held areas in a country where the United Nations says war has compounded poverty.