DAMASCUS: Syrian leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa unveiled on Monday new banknotes replacing those showing ousted ruler Bashar Assad and his family, hoping the Syrian pound can regain some of the value lost to over a decade of war.
Improving the standing of the Syrian pound is among the greatest challenges for Syria’s new authorities, who will remove two zeros, in a process known as redenomination.
The new bills, which range from 10 to 500 Syrian pounds, will enter circulation on January 1. They show images of roses, wheat, olives, oranges and other agricultural symbols for which Syria is famous.
After unveiling the banknotes, Sharaa said the new currency marks “the end of a previous, unlamented phase and the beginning of a new phase that the Syrian people... aspire to.”
“The new currency design is an expression of the new national identity and a move away from the veneration of individuals.”
Since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, the pound has plunged from 50 to around 11,000 against the greenback, and Syrians are forced to carry huge wads of banknotes even for basic needs like grocery shopping.
The removal of the zeros, which does not impact the currency’s value, was done to make transactions easier and restore trust in the Syrian pound.
“If someone wants to buy something simple, they need to carry bags in order to trade, so people go for dollars,” Sharaa said, adding that the currency revamp will boost “the national currency within the country and strengthen trust.”
“Syria deserves a strong economy and a stable currency.”
Syria’s old banknotes were printed in Russia, Assad’s former backer.
When asked by journalists, Syrian central bank chief Abdul Qadir Al-Hasriya did not specify where the new currency will be printed.
Syria reveals new post-Assad banknotes
https://arab.news/439zv
Syria reveals new post-Assad banknotes
- The new bills, which range from 10 to 500 Syrian pounds, will enter circulation on January 1
- They show images of roses, wheat, olives, oranges and other agricultural symbols for which Syria is famous
Palestinians attempt to use Gaza’s Rafah Border crossing amidst delays
- The Rafah Crossing opened to a few Palestinians in each direction last week, after Israel retrieved the body of the last hostage held in Gaza and several American officials visited Israel to press for the opening
CAIRO: Palestinians on both sides of the crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which opened last week for the first time since 2024, were making their way to the border on Sunday in hopes of crossing, one of the main requirements for the US-backed ceasefire. The opening comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Washington this week, though the major subject of discussion will be Iran, his office said.
The Rafah Crossing opened to a few Palestinians in each direction last week, after Israel retrieved the body of the last hostage held in Gaza and several American officials visited Israel to press for the opening. Over the first four days of the crossing’s opening, just 36 Palestinians requiring medical care were allowed to leave for Egypt, plus 62 companions, according to United Nations data.
Palestinian officials say nearly 20,000 people in Gaza are seeking to leave for medical care that they say is not available in the war-shattered territory. The few who have succeeded in crossing described delays and allegations of mistreatment by Israeli forces and other groups involved in the crossing, including and an Israeli-backed Palestinian armed group, Abu Shabab.
A group of Palestinian patients and wounded gathered Sunday morning in the courtyard of a Red Crescent hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, before making their way to the Rafah crossing with Egypt for treatment abroad, family members told The Associated Press.
Amjad Abu Jedian, who was injured in the war, was scheduled to leave Gaza for medical treatment on the first day of the crossing’s reopening, but only five patients were allowed to travel that day, his mother, Raja Abu Jedian, said. Abu Jedian was shot by an Israeli sniper while he was building traditional bathrooms in the central Bureij refugee camp in July 2024, she said.
On Saturday, his family received a call from the World Health Organization notifying them that he is included in the group that will travel on Sunday, she said.
“We want them to take care of the patients (during their evacuation),” she said. “We want the Israeli military not to burden them.”
The Israeli defense branch that oversees the operation of the crossing did not immediately confirm the opening.
A group of Palestinians also arrived Sunday morning at the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing border to return to the Gaza Strip, Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News satellite television reported.
Palestinians who returned to Gaza in the first few days of the crossing’s operation described hours of delays and invasive searches by Israeli authorities and an Israeli-backed Palestinian armed group, Abu Shabab. A European Union mission and Palestinian officials run the border crossing, and Israel has its screening facility some distance away.
The crossing was reopened on Feb. 2 as part of a fragile ceasefire deal that stopped the war between Israel and Hamas. Amid confusion around the reopening, the Rafah crossing was closed Friday and Saturday.
The Rafah crossing, an essential lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza, was the only crossing not controlled by Israel prior to the war. Israel seized the Palestinian side of Rafah in May 2024, though traffic through the crossing was heavily restricted even before that.
Restrictions negotiated by Israeli, Egyptian, Palestinian and international officials meant that only 50 people would be allowed to return to Gaza each day and 50 medical patients — along with two companions for each — would be allowed to leave, but far fewer people than expected have crossed in both directions.
