The value of the Syrian pound has improved against foreign currencies today, Thursday, January 30.

The selling price of the US dollar reached ten thousand Syrian pounds, and the buying price was 9,900 Syrian pounds, after it had stabilized at around 11,000 pounds for several days, following a decline from 15,000 Syrian pounds before the fall of the overthrown regime on December 8, 2024.

Meanwhile, the selling price of the euro reached 10,408 Syrian pounds and the buying price was 10,299 pounds, according to the S-P Today website, which specializes in monitoring currency and gold prices in Syria.

According to a report issued by the Jusoor for Studies Center in early 2021, the Syrian pound lacks the necessary resistance to defend its stability and is unlikely to withstand any shock, no matter how small, confirming that it is subject to rapid depreciation.

The report added that the impact of political and economic transformations on the exchange rate of the pound often appears in clear waves of increase, meaning a decline in the value of the pound, which makes it difficult to determine the levels it could achieve.

The exchange rate, under the current circumstances in Syria, is linked to several combined economic factors that lead to a decline in the value of the pound, including the lack of production, negative growth in GDP, reliance on foreign markets, as well as a significant trade balance deficit and a balance of payments deficit, in addition to a lack of foreign investments and the existence of a wide black market for currency exchange.

About a month ago, a new and unprecedented indicator emerged, as the official price of the local currency against the US dollar surpassed the exchange rate in the black market.

This situation is new to the exchange market in Syria, where previously the black market price always exceeded the officially announced price by the Central Bank of Syria (CBS).

According to the bank’s announcement today, the exchange rate for the US dollar is equivalent to 13,000 Syrian pounds, and the euro exchange rate is about 13,500 pounds.

No dollars in the Central Bank

The Syrian government continues to conduct audits and gather data amidst conflicting reports regarding what the Syrian Central Bank possesses in foreign currency, despite an agreement on the reserves of foreign currency dropping to almost zero.

On December 11, 2024, just one day after officially taking office, the head of the interim government in Damascus, Mohammed al-Bashir, stated that there are only Syrian pounds in the central bank’s coffers, “which are worth nothing,” clarifying that the Central Bank of Syria has no foreign currency reserves.

Al-Bashir added in an interview with the Italian newspaper “Il Corriere della Sera,” “We do not have any foreign currency, and with regard to loans and bonds, we are still gathering data. So yes, we are in a very dire financial situation.”