The Turkish lira has started making its way to northern Syria following a decision by pro-Ankara military factions and local opposition councils to encourage its use instead of the Syrian pound, which has greatly decreased in value in the last days.
During three military operations backed by loyal factions, the Turkish Army had recently controlled large swathes of territory in northern Syria.
Ankara helped introduce Turkish services and government institutions and services to those areas, which host more than 3 million Syrians.
Therefore, in order to protect citizens' savings due to the rapid depreciation of the Syrian pound, local military and civil institutions hurried to adopt the Turkish lira in the area.
Mustafa Madi, the owner of an electrical tools shop in Saramand in the countryside of Idlib, told Asharq Al-Awsat, “Of course, it is safer to commercially deal with the Turkish lira instead of the Syrian lira, which is witnessing an unprecedented devaluation.”
He said the rapid depreciation of the Syrian pound inflicts immense financial losses because merchants are forced to change to prices of products all the time.
Human Rights activist Akram Junaid said: “the economic situation in northern Syria is now completely linked to the Turkish economy.”
This week, the Syrian pound’s exchange rate to the dollar crashed, hitting a record low against the US dollar (USD).
Economy and Finance in the Syrian Interim Government, Abdul Karim al-Masri said that all dealings at government institutions would be in the Turkish lira or the US dollar. “We will buy wheat and sell flour in the dollar and we will sell bread in the Turkish lira,” Masri said.
In Damascus, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the slight amelioration in the value of the Syrian lira exchange rate in the past few days came after Syrian businessmen injected US dollars in the market, in addition to a decision by the Syrian Central Bank to control money transfers from outside the country.
Such measures helped the Syrian pound to trade at 2,400 against the dollar after hitting a record low of 3,400 last Monday.
Syria's economy has been battered by nine years of war, compounded by a financial crisis in neighboring Lebanon, which had served as a conduit for dollars into government-held areas under international sanctions.
Big dealers told Asharq Al-Awsat that ATMs were currently not operating in Syria following an old dispute between the Central Bank of Syria and the Lebanese operating company, CSC Group, which is owned by Abdul-Qader Douweyk.
They uncovered that the CB is planning to transfer the contract to a relative of Asmaa Assad, the wife of President Bashar Assad.
