AMMAN: Washington’s decision to arm opponents of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and reports of Gulf military aid to rebels have sent the Syrian currency plunging to a new record low, currency dealers and bankers said yesterday.
Traders across Syria reported widely fluctuating rates and two currency dealers in Damascus, where the pound appeared to be hit hardest, said it fell below 200 to the dollar for the first time in what one described as panic buying of the US currency.
The pound traded at 205 to the dollar yesterday evening, down 20 percent in four days and 77 percent down since the start of the anti-Assad uprising in March 2011 when it was at 47.
“It’s total chaos. Demand for the dollar has increased with the news...of the Americans preparing military help to rebels,” said Assem Salman, an exchange dealer in the bustling Sabaa Baahrat in downtown Damascus
“Anyone who gives you a price, don’t take his word. The dollar has gone mad and reached the 200 level ... Nothing seems to stop this dollar chaos,” he said.
Dealers blame the progressive fall in the pound since March on the failure of Central Bank Governor Adeeb Mayaleh to back up his promises to support the pound, which stood at around 100 to the dollar at the end of last year.
The sharp fall since then, after nearly two years of more managed decline, came despite Mayaleh’s comments that Syria was getting financial aid from its allies Russia and Iran and market talk Tehran had deposited at least $2bn in the central bank, according to some dealers.
The central bank’s injection of ¤100m also failed to stem the fall, with some dealers saying the requirements for taking up the money were so burdensome that only ¤5m reached the market.
Mayaleh said economic accords signed in Damascus with Iran yesterday would help businesses fund imports to Syria and described the latest exchange rate as “unreal, illusionary and speculative”.
“It’s down to speculators intimidating people and exploiting people’s needs (for currency). People have needs and we will respond to them,” he told Syrian television.
Reuters
