The dollar exchange rate rose above 265 SYP on the black market, despite the Central Bank’s official exchange rate remaining stable at 212.85 SYP, while the Syrian pound continues to be traded at 226.24 and 228.5 SYP in licensed exchange companies.
The Syrian Goldsmiths Association has priced gold adopting the 249 SYP per dollar rate, taking a mid-way position between the official rate and the black market rate (at 266 SYP per dollar).
Observers are baffled by the sudden hike in exchange rates in the absence of any economic or political troubles, where recent actions adopted by the Central Bank of Syria suggested an improvement in the Syrian pound exchange rate.
The Governor of the Central Bank promised last week to fund all import licenses belonging to industrialists and basic raw materials traders, while pursing black market speculators and prosecuting smuggling operations.
A state of an unexplained fluctuation and change in the dollar exchange rate followed the Central Bank’s previous meeting, which confirms that speculation and the monopoly of a number of merchants is behind this sudden flux, in the absence of any economic or even political justification.
Member of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce, Manar al-Jallad, said that there is a state of uncertainty regarding what happened in the exchange market and the reason behind this rise.
The head of Goldsmiths Association in Damascus, Ghassan Jazmati, explained that the price of the 21-carat gram of gold witnessed a rise yesterday, recorded at 8,450 SYP. The price of the Syrian gold pound reached 68,000 SYP, while the price of the Syrian gold ounce reached 308,000 SYP.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
