The Central Bank of Syria has increased the selling prices of the Syrian Pound relative to the US Dollar to above 57 Pounds as it seeks to clamp down on the black market.
For weeks the Central Bank has been raising step by step the price of the Dollar compared to the national currency. In December, the Dollar rate stood at above 55; it was raised to above 56 in the first trading day of this year, and then increased by some 40 Piastres last Thursday to 56.65 before reaching its current selling rate of 57.25 to the Dollar yesterday.
 
In black market dealings the Pound has remained stable at around 60 Pounds per Dollar for several weeks.
 
At the same time, the Central Bank is trying to decrease demand for foreign currencies. Last week it asked all state administrations to provide it with a list of the fees, taxes and other payments they collect in foreign currencies from households, businesses and other parties, and to justify why these payments are not made in the local currency.
 
The objective of the decision is to trace all the operations done in foreign currencies and try to reduce them so that in turn demand for foreign exchange in the market diminishes.
 
The Central Bank has already limited significantly the amount of foreign currencies it makes available to private individuals and companies.
 
Until last October the Central Bank provided foreign currencies to all import traders that would require them to finance their imports, through the local bank these traders deal with. In October, the Bank announced that it would stop doing so except for a few key food items.
 
Then, the Ministry of Economy issued a decision allowing local banks to provide foreign exchange for all imports that had a customs tariff rate of 1 percent or above in addition to a list of 75 items that carried a rate of above 1 percent. Now, the Bank has reportedly sent a directive to local commercial banks asking them to stop all sort of foreign exchange sale.
 
The Syrian Pound has come under strong pressures in the last few months on the back of the political crisis gripping the country and the economic downturn. The Syrian national currency has now lost 21 percent of its value compared to the US dollar since the beginning of the protests on March 15.