The Syrian pound continues to drop in value, hit by the ongoing war almost in its fourth year. On Monday, it traded at 230 SYP against the US dollar on the black market and 190 SYP at Syria’s central bank, the lowest rate since Syria’s independence. With this latest decline, it has almost lost 500% of its value since the beginning of the Syrian revolution, when it was valued at 47 SYP against the US dollar. Syria’s Central Bank is trying to reduce the gap between the exchange rate of the Syrian pound in the black market and the official price through the pumping of USD dollars in the exchange market, with the latest intervention amounting to the pumping of 65 million USD in the exchange market.
The pound’s decline was compounded by the lack of confidence in the Syrian economy, the decline of reserves of foreign currency, the depletion of natural resources of the country, cessation of production, imports and exports, the Assad regime’s and its cronies’ manipulation of the country’s economy, and an inflation rate as high as 250%. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Sada News)
