The price of gasoline was raised to 36 Syrian pounds (74 cents) a liter from 30 pounds (60 cents), Syria’s official newspaper Al Thawra reported.

The new price went into effect Thursday.

This price is still low compared to world prices, as the Syrian government subsidizes fuel and other vital commodities.

The Syrian government expects 2008 subsidies will cost it some 350 billion Syrian pounds (US$7 billion), or about 19 percent of the gross domestic product.

The last time Syria raised gasoline prices was in Jan. 2006, when they were raised by 25 percent, to 30 Syrian pounds (60 cents) a liter. At the time, Damascus said the measure was to counter fuel smuggling to neighbouring countries where fuel prices are double.

Syria’s oil revenues have fallen in line with the decline in output, from 600,000 barrels per day in the mid 1990s to 350,000 barrels a day at present.