Syrians prepare for Eid al-Adha festival despite soaring prices

As the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, or the Feast of Sacrifice, is just around the corner, Syrians rushed to market to buy clothes as well as to bundle up for winter amid complaints of exorbitant prices that had forced many to return home empty-handed. Customers move from one shop to another in search of a cheaper price as the prices of cloths are fourfold this season owing to sharp depreciation of the Syrian pound in this war-torn country. Many customers complain about the high prices that are soaring on daily bases and becoming more unaffordable to the common citizens. Things like pullover could be sold at 5,000 pounds (some 37.2 dollars), which is overpriced for most people. Same pullover was used to be sold last year at no more than 2,000 pounds (about 14.5 dollars). Eventually, hordes of people, rich and poor, are seen bargaining with stallholders on roadside stalls that display all kinds of winter wear and accessories including gloves, woolen hats, mufflers, pullovers, sweatshirts, pajamas and jackets. "It's not so easy to find something good in the piles of mostly poor-quality stuff. People want name brands since it's of a better quality but out of their price range," said Ahlam, a mother of four children as she was shopping in al-Salihiya souk in Damascus. Even shop owners have hired stallholder to sell their goods at cheaper prices as goods have been stacked in the shops with few or almost no customers. Some other brand shops had even went bust. Stallholders try to lure customers by contending that if they don't buy now, they might not find good-quality goods soon as most factories have been shut down or damaged by the violent acts that ripped industrial areas nationwide. Adnan, a government employee, told Xinhua that he buys the " very necessary" things for his children and keeps searching from one stall to another for a cheaper price. "I have even borrowed money from my sister to buy clothes for the Eid," he groaned. "My kids are accustomed, like all Syrian kids, to buy new clothes for the feast. I am doing my utmost to make them happy," he said. The Syrian government has tried to decrease the burden on citizens by organizing an exhibition to sell clothes at lower prices on the advent of the Eid al-Adha. Yet, the step is seen as insufficient by some Syrians who argue that the government should work harder to alleviate the economic hardship in Syria where inflation and unemployment have broken the record and with no solution is looking soon for the long-standing crisis.