Syria’s new currency removes al-Assad family images, seeks to boost economy | Syria’s War News

Authorities take away two zeros from the pound, hoping to simplify transactions and regain belief within the battered forex.

New banknotes have arrived at cash exchanges throughout Syria, changing these displaying ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad and his household, because the fledgling authorities hopes the Syrian pound can regain a number of the worth misplaced over greater than a decade of warfare.

The redesigned notes have been months within the making and are a part of a broader effort to stabilise and revitalise the economy and rebrand the state.

The Syrian pound’s worth has been drained, and inflation lately reached triple digits. In the direction of the tip of 2025, an unnamed official advised the Reuters information company that the Central Financial institution of Syria had simply $200m in overseas change reserves. On the finish of 2010, it had $17bn.

Enhancing the standing of the Syrian pound is among the many biggest challenges for Syria’s new authorities, alongside recurrent inner and exterior safety challenges.

Two zeros have been faraway from the previous currencies in a course of often called redenomination.

After unveiling the banknotes final week, Syrian chief Ahmed al-Sharaa mentioned the brand new currencies mark “the tip of a earlier, unlamented part and the start of a brand new part that the Syrian folks … aspire to”.

“The brand new forex design is an expression of the brand new nationwide identification and a transfer away from the veneration of people.”

The brand new payments, which vary from 10 to 500 Syrian kilos, entered circulation on January 1. They present photos of roses, wheat, olives, oranges and different agricultural symbols for which Syria is known.

‘Ridiculous’ to see al-Assad on pound

Muhammad Zaar, a Damascus resident, advised Al Jazeera that he was pleased with the change.

“A minimum of we eliminate this earlier president. It’s ridiculous to see his image on our cash,” he mentioned.

Al Jazeera’s Ayman Oghanna, reporting from Damascus, mentioned the transfer was geared toward simplifying transactions, boosting financial restoration and rebranding the nation.

“What a rustic prints on its forex says rather a lot about what it needs to be,” Oghanna mentioned.

“These new denominations are designed to make a clear break from Syria’s previous whereas legitimising its new authorities.”

The Syrian authorities have been striving to convey life again to a flatlining financial system, together with its cost techniques, after practically 14 years of ruinous civil warfare.

For the reason that begin of the warfare in 2011, the pound, earlier than it was denominated, had plunged from 50 to about 11,000 in opposition to {dollars}. Syrians needed to carry big wads of banknotes even for fundamental wants, similar to grocery purchasing.

The removing of the zeros doesn’t affect the forex’s worth.

America introduced its everlasting lifting of the so-called Caesar sanctions, paving the way in which for the return of investments to Syria after years of financial isolation.

Furthermore, Gulf Arab states, together with Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have made significant financial investments price billions within the nation, creating an extra financial lifeline.