When the country descended into civil war in 2011 , it was already facing economic troubles. Drought conditions hurt the country's agricultural sector, all the more so as rural Syrians moved in droves to urban areas. The country's economic output had shrunk by more than 40 percent by 2013. As its cash flow dwindled, Damascus was forced to progressively cut food, fuel, water and electricity subsidies. By 2015, Syria's reserves had reportedly fallen to just $1 billion, enough money to cover roughly a month's worth of imports. The cost of food, meanwhile, rose by 99 percent in 2016 compared with the previous year. All of this bodes ill for President Bashar al Assad: The country's precipitous economic decline could start to undermine trust in the government, even among its most loyal supporters.