Loujain (a pseudonym) lived with significant anxiety for about half a month as she contemplated how to collect her financial dues from one of the live-streaming platforms where she works after the support she received amounted to $3,800 USD. Usually, she would receive it by hand in the street.

The 24-year-old, living in a popular suburb of Latakia city, said she receives the amount in Syrian pounds, which this time exceeded 40 million pounds. She did not know how she would carry it and bring it home amidst fears of being subjected to theft or fraud by the money deliverer.

Nor could she bring it home to avoid her family finding out, who do not know how much she earns monthly.

When the delivery date arrived earlier this month, Loujain asked the money deliverer to receive the amount at the gold market, entered one of the goldsmith shops, bought some gold with part of the money, and left enough to cover her expenses until she receives her dues for the upcoming month.

Since 2011, the value of the Syrian pound against the US dollar has fallen significantly, making the largest Syrian cash denomination in the markets today (five thousand Syrian pounds) worth less than half a dollar, while the value of the largest denomination released at the beginning of 2011 (one thousand Syrian pounds) was equivalent to about 20 US dollars.

Syrians use bags to carry cash received by hand through external transfers – February 26, 2024 (Enab Baladi/Linda Ali)

Weighing instead of counting money

Many vendors have resorted to using scales to count money, and it has become commonly known to use this method, as a single banknote of any denomination weighs one full gram, thereby shortening the time needed to count the money manually, according to the owner of a gold shop in Jableh city, for Enab Baladi.

The shop owner pointed out that this method of counting money is not entirely accurate, as the weight may increase slightly due to humidity. However, the increase would be fractions of a gram, so it is possible to determine the cause based on the amount of weight increase.

While those who sell materials that require a scale use this method, other shop owners, such as clothing and footwear vendors, who mostly have a special machine for counting money, operating usually on batteries due to the continuous electricity rationing, cannot follow suit.

In a shoe store at Hanano Market in Latakia city, Lama (29 years old), an employee at a state institution, was buying shoes for 240,000 pounds. When she was about to count the money, the shop owner asked her to go with him to his neighbor, the clothes shop owner, where they bought a money-counting machine to use together to facilitate customer transactions and save time, especially when the denominations are lower, like 500 or 1,000 pounds.

The volume of money poses a burden on money transfer companies, and their customers often fall victim to fraud, discovering that the transfer amount is deficient after they get home and count their money.

A scale used for counting money in a gold shop in Jableh city – February 26, 2024 (Enab Baladi/Linda Ali)

Rejection of small denominations

Many shop owners express their annoyance when payment is made with small denominations, and most prefer to receive money in the 5,000-pound denomination.

Ali (38 years old), an employee in the private sector living in Latakia city, received his past January’s salary in 1,000 and 2,000 pound denominations. When he used 1,000 pounds to buy necessities from a shop near his house worth 238,000 pounds, the shop owner grumbled and refused to make the sale, causing Ali to leave without buying as the disagreement nearly escalated into a physical altercation and shouting.

Ali Kanaan, a professor at the Faculty of Economics at Damascus University, said in statements to local radio station Sham FM in January that the economic reality in Syria requires the issuance of higher currency denominations, like 10,000 pounds, to meet the payment system needs in the local economy.

The expert suggested issuing a currency of 100,000 Syrian pounds, noting that its release would not affect the value of the currency, which is linked to production and not to the monetary papers. He said that if one is buying a house or goods for 5 billion, the buyer would need cars to transport the money.

The culture of banking transactions in Syria is almost non-existent, due to laws imposed by the regime’s government, such as a fixed daily withdrawal limit, and the deterioration of the pound’s value on the other hand, which will lead to a loss of monetary value if kept in banks in a currency constantly devaluing.

Some electronic transactions, in this context, are also unavailable due to the lack of infrastructure and software, amid almost daily problems that residents in Syria suffer from, related to poor electricity and internet access.

Syrians use bags to carry cash received by hand through external transfers – February 26, 2024 (Enab Baladi/Linda Ali)