Dollar sets a record in Syria’s Damascus, shops closed
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, shops’ owners in the Syrian capital, Damascus, closed their shops following the sharp deterioration in the Syrian pound against the US dollar, as one dollar reached more than 3,590 Syrian pounds (SYP) today.
The rising exchange rate forced the shops’ owners to close their shops due to the difficulty of trading amid this rapid currency collapse.
Residents from some Damascus neighborhoods expressed their fears and concern of the sharp decline of the Syrian pound value in light of the high cost of living.
The 57-year-old shop owner Ahmad al-Youssef, told North Press that he closed his shop in the al-Doweila’ neighborhood “due to the inability to buy new goods in replace of what he sold at loss.”
While the detergent shop owner Abu Abdo (pseudonym) told North Press that he closed his shop due to the loss he was afflicted by selling the goods.
“We cannot raise prices due to the supply monitor of the Directorate of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection, who will not hesitate to write a financial penalty for any shop that raises its prices even slightly,” he added.
According to Abu Abdo, these financial penalties turned from a means of controlling the market and traders’ greed to a tool of extortion in order to collect royalties.
“The purchasing process starts from the importer to the wholesaler, the retailer, reaching the resident,” a trader from Jaramana neighborhood told North Press.
The trader buys the goods in dollar, but he sells them to the consumer in the Syrian pound.
He pointed out that any rise in the dollar exchange rate against the Syrian pound, requires an increase in the prices of the goods to preserve the capital of the seller, and that the real problem lies in the low level of income in general.
Closure included shops in most neighborhoods of Damascus, especially in Jaramana, Doweil’a, Baramkah and Sahnaya.