Thu 22 August 2019:
(EQTSAD)- The hollowing-out of the Syrian currency’s value has been continued as trading against the US dollar reached the highest rate in three years in blackmarket, according to exchange dealers.
Trading at 47 Syrian liras to the US dollar in 2011, it’s currently going for 622 Syrian liras to the greenback.
in Damascus, the dollar rose to its highest rate in two months, recorded at 617 SYP buy and 622 SYP sell.
The dollar reached an unprecedented rate in northwestern Syria due to the ongoing offensive by regime and Russia in northwest Syria. In the northeast, the dollar reached 622 SYP at the buy rate and 625 SYP at the sell rate.
Syria’s currency has crashed as the country’s eight-year-long war rages on.
The rapid depreciation of the Syrian pound has caused a further decline in the living standards of ordinary Syrians and threatens the continued functioning of what remains of the state, according to Carnegie Think Tank
Aron Lund in a report published by the veteran Middle East Center in 2016 says: If the formal economy proceeds to break down in more fundamental ways than it has already, if the SYP loses even more of its purchasing power, and if state institutions cede ground to private charities, the black market, and militias, then the Assad regime will continue to evolve from an institutional state apparatus into a coalition of warlords. While tragic for Syria, such a development is especially dangerous for Assad himself, since his long term strategy is predicated on an ability to present himself as the last barrier against a permanent state collapse in Syria.
Reversing the decline of the government’s financial writ is therefore just as important to Bashar al-Assad as winning the battles on the ground. So far, he has seemed considerably more successful at the latter than the former.
Eight years of war in Syria have killed 560,000 people and driven half the pre-war population of 22 million from their homes, including more than 6 million as refugees to neighbouring countries.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
