Syria’s Economic Crisis Magnifies Human Tragedy
Often eclipsed by the Syrian conflict’s exorbitant human cost, the embattled country’s economy has plummeted over the past three years under stringent international sanctions.
International and Arab attention is focused on the developments on the ground in Syria and the geographical dimension of the crisis. The fall of a city or neighborhood into the hands of a certain faction or the arrival of certain kinds of weapons to a particular military group elicits analyses and counter-analyses, mixed expectations and leaves decision-makers powerless and confused.
Today, however, the surprise that changes the balance of power may come from a completely different angle: the economic angle.
It is no longer a secret that the Syrian regime is suffering financial difficulties, which is evident in the sharp decline in the exchange rate of the Syrian pound, which traded at 47 pounds to the dollar at the conflict's outset in March 2011, and is trading at a rate ranging between 235 and 240 against the US dollar, compared to 320 a few weeks ago before the government intervention.
The reasons for this sharp decline can be attributed to the military efforts exerted by the regime and the suspension of the production cycle. This happened despite the official statements and media efforts to dispel doubts about the strength of the national currency, the procedural measures taken by the Syrian government to protect the currency, which do not comply with the rules of the free market economy, and the attempts to save it by political allies.
