The Syrian pound continues to deteriorate. Damascus is the worst city in the world

Mohammed al-Jazaeri - Aleppo countryside

Damascus topped the list of the worst cities to live in the world, according to the classification of the Economist; where he lives find insecurity and corruption spread in government institutions and the power of the regime, in addition to the deteriorating living situation.

Atef is an employee in Damascus governorate whose sons traveled outside Syria to escape military service. His sons were helping him financially from their work, and he had many expenses such as his house rent and daily living expenses, while his salary barely covered half the expenses.

"My wife left me and asked for a divorce because she could not tolerate life with an employee whose salary is limited with the extra and the incentives are not enough to pay the rent and live for the end of the month," Atef said.

"My children have traveled and are not sending me any material assistance because of the security accountability that it will entail, perhaps facing the charge of dealing with foreign exchange and soliciting support to fight the regime and disturb the economy," he said.

Opposition areas
Difficulties differ between regime-controlled and opposition-controlled areas. In the north of Syria outside of regime control, traders rely on the dollar to stabilize compared to the Syrian currency, a phenomenon that has begun to spread throughout the shops, placing a burden on the population.

Abdullah, one of the displaced to the north of Syria did not complete his studies, war conditions prevented him from mastering a profession to live from, and stormed the oil trade in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

"Our work has become a daily adventure because of the instability of the Syrian pound, and the imposition of buying from traders in dollars and selling in Syrian pounds, and I see that the only solution is to deal with the Turkish lira throughout the north of Syria being the closest country, as the value of the Turkish lira is lower than the dollar and can be put on the market. Smoothly. "

Reasons for landing
The exchange rate of the Syrian pound against the US dollar in the past few days exceeded the limit of 700, making it the lowest exchange rate reached by the lira in the country's history.

This downturn is not expected to stand at these limits, further reducing the purchasing power of the entire Syrian population.

Sites close to the Syrian regime say that the black market, which has been heavily active over the past eight years, is damaging the value of the Syrian pound and the country's economy, while analysts see many reasons for the decline, some of which are related to figures close to the Assad family and general trade.

The Syrian writer and journalist Adnan Abdel-Razzaq said, "I expect that the foreign reserves in the Syrian Central Bank have been completely dissipated.

Razak added that the reasons for the decline in the exchange rate of the lira is because most traders had concluded previous import contracts with companies or third parties, which obliges them to pay in dollars, and push them to resort to the black market.

Refraction forecast
Analysts believe that the Syrian pound will continue to break with the continued economic sanctions on the regime, which is mainly to finance its war against the Syrian revolution instead of supporting its collapsed economy, and the continued control of Kurdish units on the most important oil wells in eastern Syria, which would cover the need for oil derivatives instead of importing them .