Syrian Pounds
Aleppo's classic cars Despite a period of relative peace in large parts of Syria, life is hard for the average person and continues to get harder. Just as the UK is trying to navigate the “cost of living crisis”, so Syria is similarly afflicted, but here the high cost of fuel and commodities on the global market are exacerbated by other factors. The heavy economic sanctions that have been imposed on Syria by western countries since 2011 mean that many commodities are not available through official channels (there’s no Coca Cola in Syria!); an ongoing conflict in the north and east of the country mean that oil reserves there are not accessible which in turn has a knock on effect for everything in the country; and the worsening economy here has seen the value of the Syrian pound plummet. Earlier in the year 1 US dollar fetched 4,500 Syrian pounds, when we arrived in July it was 6,500 and now it stands at 11,500. More significantly, the black-market rate (which essentially dicta