Syrians yesterday voted to elect a new parliament as the Damascus government grapples with international sanctions and a crumbling economy after retaking large parts of the war-torn country.

More than 7,400 polling stations opened across government-held parts of Syria, including for the first time in former opposition strongholds, the electoral commission said.

President Bashar al-Assad's Baath party and its allies are ipped to win most of parliament's 250 seats.

This year's vote comes as Damascus struggles to redress an economy battered by nine years of war, Western sanctions. Food prices in Syria have shot up by more than 200 percent in the past year and now stand at 20 times their pre-war levels, the World Food Programme says.