Bader Jamous, member of the Syrian National Coalition’s political committee, deplored the worsening living conditions in Syria resulting from the depreciation of the Syrian pound, especially for those living under the rule of the Assad regime. He stressed that a just political solution and the return of displaced Syrians will open the door for the lifting of sanctions and the return of investors and expatriate money to the country.
Jamous on Thursday said that the Assad regime is still pursuing an extremely detrimental financial policy, especially with regard to the prevention of trading of the foreign currency, which brought the Syrian pound to a record low.
He added that this sharp decline in the value of the Syrian pound led to a spike in the prices of local and imported goods, which reflected negatively on the purchasing power of the low and middle income earners as well as the most vulnerable groups. Government employees are now paid an equivalent of $2 per day only, he said, pointing out that the regime officials, meanwhile, are accumulating more wealth through various ways of extortion and embezzlement of public and private property.
Moreover, Jamous stressed that the regime is mainly to blame for the collapse of the Syrian currency and the Syrian economy as the regime spent the country’s reserves of foreign exchange on military operations directed against the Syrian people. Syria’s Central Bank said its reserves of foreign exchange now stand at 700 million US dollars, down from 20 billion at the start of the revolution.
Jamous pointed out that the inflation will most likely worsen as the Assad regime continued its policy of destruction of the infrastructure and the displacement of human resources. He pointed out that the Assad regime is indifferent to the reality of the economy and the market’s pressing need for hard currency and still counting on a bloody military solution and continues to drain the country’s resources. (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)
