The Central Bank of Syria (CBS) has announced that the money transfer and exchange companies are allowed to resume their transactions on Saturdays, noting their working hours on the weekdays have been reset as well. 

On 24 April, CBS issued a decision allowing money transfer and exchange companies to resume their work on Saturdays, which will come into effect starting from today.

The decision also included the modification of money transfer and exchange agencies’ working hours to be rescheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., starting from today until further notice.

This new decision came after a previous circular announced by the CBS on 14 April, in which it required money transfer and exchange agencies and companies to stop operating on Saturdays of every week until further notice, as part of the preventive measures taken by the Syrian regime’s government to confront the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The adjustment of the working hours of these companies conforms with the Syrian government’s amendment of the curfew times in its areas of control, starting from the beginning of Ramadan.

Meanwhile, the Syrian regime’s government modified the curfew times in its held areas starting from the beginning of Ramadan to be from 7:30 p.m. until 6:00 a.m.

Moreover, the curfew will remain in force between the cities and the rural areas, as well as between the provinces, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

The regime’s government also decided to re-vitalize all trade and professional services according to a program distributed on weekdays among them, on an average of one or two days weekly and depending on each profession’s nature.

The working period of these professions is from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Syrian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Interior, Health and Transport were mandated to look into the situation of Syrians who cannot leave their countries of residence abroad, due to the travel ban to bring them back to Syria.

It is worth noting that the majority of Syrians in different regions depend mainly on remittances coming from abroad, especially after the deterioration of the purchasing value of the Syrian Pound (SYP) and the substantial price increase.