The Syrian regime has begun implementing a new mechanism to exchange $100 for travelers returning to Syria by granting them a check receipt instead of cash.
According to the local Athr Press news website, a number of travelers returning to Syria through Damascus International Airport were surprised to receive a receipt instead of the cash amount in exchange for $100, which they can later collect from any commercial bank.
Under the new procedures, travelers can take the receipt, which acts as a check, to their province and collect the amount from any branch and office of the Commercial Bank of Syria.
A source at the Commercial Bank of Syria informed Athr Press that this procedure began as a pilot at Damascus International Airport and will later be generalized to all airports and border crossings.
The source explained that this procedure aims to reduce the congestion resulting from the cash handover by the responsible employee at the airport and the time wasted during counting and verifying the amount by the concerned individual. It also seeks to lessen the burden of carrying large sums of cash for travelers, especially those whose final destination is other provinces.
Enab Baladi monitored some Syrians’ reactions to this decision on social media; some considered it as new complications rather than facilitations for citizens as they would have to go to the Commercial Bank to exchange the amount, resulting in long queues for hours along with the cost of transportation in light of rising transportation fees.
The decision also faced criticisms regarding the loss of the receipt, hence losing the ability to collect the amount or the potential for authorities to seize the $100 directly, while some citizens might forgo the amount due to residing in remote rural areas far from the Commercial Bank.
In June 2020, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in Syria issued a decision obliging Syrian citizens and those in similar positions to exchange $100 or its equivalent in other foreign currencies accepted by the Central Bank of Syria upon entering Syria.
The exchange used to be according to the customs and aviation exchange rates. In August 2023, the regime’s government announced the adjustment of the exchange rate for the $100 imposed on Syrians entering the country through border crossings, to be based on the remittance bulletin issued by the Central Bank of Syria instead of the customs and aviation exchange rates bulletin.