The Syrian pound has hit a record low amid the country´s grinding war and as a financial and political crisis roils neighboring Lebanon, Syria´s economic lung.
The dollar was worth 920 Syrian pounds at some exchange shops on Monday in the capital, Damascus, a sharp drop from recent days.
The pound began losing some of its value earlier this year as Western countries tightened sanctions on President Bashar Assad´s government. Drop-in remittances also affected the pound and many Syrians started buying dollars to preserve their savings.
In November, the financial crisis in Lebanon worsened, leading Lebanese banks to impose capital controls - preventing many Syrian depositors from withdrawing large sums from their accounts in Lebanon. The Lebanese crisis has also affected Syrians working in the tiny Arab country.
