The Interior MInistry on Thursday announced the arrest of a Facebook page administrator on charges of publishing the prices of foreign currencies "without permission".
According to the official SANA news agency, the ministry said security arrested the administrator of a Facebook page for "unauthorized publication of wrong information related to foreign currencies prices, which damages the national economy, and confidence in the national currency".
Dozens of Facebook pages dedicated to the prices of foreign currency in the Syrian black market have been created during the crisis.
The increase of publishing the exchange rates of foreign currency comes simultaneously with greater instability of the Syrian Pound against the dollar, especially on the black market.
The exchange rate of the Syrian Pound is quite different between the two markets, for instance, the dollar exchange rate against the Syrian Pound recorded an increase on Thursday to reach 196 SP to the dollar in the black market, while it didn’t cross 186 SP to the dollar, according to the Central Bank and exchange companies.
The Central Bank recently applied new procedures to deal with the differences in exchange rates, in addition to its regular intervention in the exchange market to decrease the dollar exchange rate and prosecute both the authorized and unauthorized bankers who don’t follow the legal procedures.
The Syrian Pound witnessed a decrease in value against the foreign currencies due to the crisis in Syria which influenced reserves of foreign currency in public and private banks, and because of the poor economic situation under the sanctions applied on the country.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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