Syria devalues its currency after sacking central bank governor

Syria devalues its currency after sacking central bank governor

DAMASCUS – Two days after the government sacked its governor, Syria's central bank devalued the pound on Thursday, bringing the currency's official exchange rate closer to the black market rate.

The pound was now officially valued at 2,512 to the US dollar from around 1,250 previously, central bank data showed. The black market rate is more than 3,000 to the greenback.

The move means the Syrian currency has officially shed more than 98 percent of its value since the start of the country's civil war in 2011.

It follows the government's decision to dismiss central bank governor Hazem Karfoul on Tuesday after a three-year tenure that coincided with a severe economic crisis.

The pound stood at 47 pounds to the dollar before the conflict.

Syria last devalued the currency in June 2020, giving in to weeks of depreciation on the black market as new US sanctions took effect.

The country's war-battered economy is now reeling from the knock-on effects of a financial crisis in neighbouring Lebanon that has stemmed the flow of dollars into government-held areas.

Syrians are believed to have billions of dollars blocked in Lebanese banks that have imposed harsh capital controls since late 2019.

President Bashar al-Assad's government also blames Western sanctions against Syria for