DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Syrians are having a hard time trying to find a place to store their cash after major transactions. Ossama Eed (a pseudonym), a real estate owner, told North Press that he does not want to sell his property because he would lose rather than profit.
“The loss is not due to the constant decline of the value of the Syrian pound, but because there is no place to keep the money. We cannot deposit them in banks following the 2019 policy of withdrawing money even after raising the designated withdrawal amount to 15 million Syrian pounds (SYP – about $2.200), the lowest price of an apartment is at least 100 million SYP (about $15.000), and it takes a long time to withdraw an amount like this.”
Eed said any sale – whether a car, a house, or land – makes Syrians wonder where to store the money.
“When depositing money in the bank, you cannot fully withdraw it when a sudden need occurs or when you want to buy a car, house, or an estate. It takes a long time to withdraw and do the paperwork.”
The second option for Eed is to keep the money at his house, which makes him apprehensive. He would always be concerned about getting robbed or killed. Such crimes have been known to occur when people get wind that a large sale or transfer has been made, turning a supposedly happy event into an endless fear.
Eed added that when money is discovered at road checkpoints during transportation between governorates, it is confiscated and deposited in the central bank.
A wholesale dealer said the risk is greater when the money owner tries to buy US dollars from the black market. He will be exposed to two dangers; One is robbers and the other is that if the security apparatuses of the Syrian government discover him, he will be fined double its value and serve time in prison.
The result is a recession in the real estate market, the merchandise trade, and capital flight.
One real estate agent in Damascus, contrary to others, said that anyone could transfer money through the bank when buying an estate, a car, or merchandise. “There is no need to withdraw millions, simply transfer its price, and when buying anything else, the new amount set for withdrawal is enough for daily purchases.”
“There is no need to carry millions unless they intend to exchange the local currency with dollars. At that point, the government has the right to protect its currency,” the real estate agent opines.
He believes everyone should submit to paying taxes and get used to dealing with banks and the Syrian pound, as every country in the world protects its economy and reduce cash usage.
Rita Ali said to North Press that she used to save extra cash in the bank, but has stopped doing so. She now stores her money at home because of the difficulties she faced when she needed the money to treat her son.
An economic expert noted that the 2019 money withdrawal restriction has so far managed to empty the banks from money, whereas the last adjustments, which raised the maximum withdrawal amount to 15 million SYP, are the result of these empty bank accounts. This decision will not fix the major damages caused to trade, industry and banks.
Business owners perceive the decisions of the Central Bank as another restriction placed on the economy, similar to the US Caesar Act sanctions.
Fares al-Shehabi, a member of the Chamber of Industry in Aleppo, posted a comment on the latest adjustments to the decisions of the Central Bank online, saying, “At last, it proves that these decisions contribute in implementing the sanctions in ways the enemies of this country could not imagine. The important thing now is that there is a comprehensive review to know why there was so much determination on doing the wrong thing and ignoring all warnings not to go down this destructive path. In order to establish deterrent foundations and regulations preventing the influence of opportunists and the corrupt on the process of decision-making and to protect from repeating errors and insisting on them. The current economic situation cannot bear experiments and mistakes but rather needs the right planning and true understanding the people.”