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The Syrian pound's staggering loss in value has renewed talk of replacing the currency with the Turkish lira in the northern areas under control of the opposition's Free Syrian Army (FSA).
The opposition’s Syrian interim government took a step in that direction Dec. 9 by holding a symposium on the subject. The symposium, held at the headquarters of International Sham University in Azaz, was attended by Abdel Hakeem al-Masri, the interim government's economy and finance minister, and by Maarouf al-Khalaf, the dean of economics and management.
This comes after the Syrian pound plunged on the black market against the dollar and other foreign currencies, leading to a major economic crisis and a significant increase in food prices in Syria. The black market exchange rate of the Syrian pound hit a low Dec. 1 of 950 pounds to the dollar. On Dec. 8, interim government President Abdurrahman Mustafa announced efforts to replace the pound.
Mustafa said his government will be injecting Turkish currency into northern Syria in denominations of 5, 10 and 20 liras to maintain citizens' purchasing power, protect their money and property and facilitate their daily transactions. (more)
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