According to the Guardian, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that the Islamic State has announced its intention to reduce its members’s wages by half. This economy!

“Because of the exceptional circumstances that the Islamic State is passing through, a decision was taken to cut the salaries of the mujahedeen in half,” ISIS said in what SOHR described as an official statement announcing the cuts.

“No one will be exempt from this decision no matter his position, but the distribution of food assistance will continue twice a month as usual.”

From the Guardian:

According to Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman, the salary cuts meant Syrian Isis fighters would see their salaries drop to about $200 a month.

Foreign fighters, who were paid double the Syrian militants, would have their monthly income reduced to $400, Abdel Rahman told AFP.

The jihadist group strives to show that it operates a full-fledged state, with government institutions, hospitals, and schools.

Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, a scholar and fellow at the Middle East Forum, obtained documents containing the same statement, CNN Money reports.

U.S.-led coalition airstrikes have targeted the Islamic State’s oil infrastructure, and earlier this month destroyed a building in Mosul, Iraq, where millions of dollars in cash was being stored.

Photo via AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.