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 dictates prices in the market) is currently above 15,000 to the dollar. All this combines to make normal life very difficult for many people here – some of our team even go so far as to say things were better during the war.

Another challenge for most people is the lack of availability of electricity. The electricity company do not have enough fuel to generate sufficient power for everyone to have 24 hour electricity. All cities have to live with load shedding, including the relatively affluent capital, Damascus which has 3 hours on, 3 hours off, even in the best neighbourhoods. Battery systems are necessary to ensure that the lights (and fridges, and more important things like medical equipment) don’t turn off every few hours. In Aleppo during this summer, most people only had 2 hours of power a day, with no assurance of when exactly it would be on. We have been fortunate to be staying in a hotel which has its own back-up generator, so although the power frequently goes off, it’s only for a minute and only once have we been trapped in the lift when the power dropped!

In Aleppo, the city gets by using solar panels mounted on the roofs of households that can afford to install them, and large communal diesel generators that sit on the side of most residential roads and supply a limited current (enough for lights and fans) to multiple households via a spider’s web of electrical cables draped across the streets. 

As fuel for power generation is limited even for the state power company, so also is fuel for vehicles. Everyone who owns a car is provided with a fuel ration of 25 litres every ten days which can be bought from petrol stations. Need any more than that and it is necessary to turn to the black market where prices are obviously much higher.

But despite the lack of fuel and economic hardships, there are still plenty of cars on the roads, although these do tend to be fairly old, some really very old. There are a few newer models imported by the very rich, but the vast majority of cars that you see driving around were made
before the conflict, so a “new” car for most people is one from around 2010. A combination of the sanctions and domestic import restrictions means that a “new” car can set you back about $15,000, so for the vast majority of people, they need to keep their old vehicles going – there’s no such thing as an economic write off here!

Which leads us to one of the somewhat bemusing aspects of life in Aleppo where you can walk around the city and spot lots of cars from yesteryear. There are plenty of old VW Beetles and more than a few soviet era Eastern European “classics” – Ladas and Skodas. But also there are classic American models and it’s fun to spot these scattered around the city.

We're heading out on leave next week, with a bit of time at home in the UK, and a few days in Jordan. So, we may see some of you! Thanks for reading, and do stay in touch, Steve & Lindsay