The Governor of the Central Bank of Syria, Abdul Qader al-Hasriya, announced details of the strategic plan for launching the new national currency, emphasizing that the process will be characterized by ease and high flexibility to ensure smooth circulation in the markets. Al-Hasriya explained that a comprehensive infrastructure has been allocated to implement the replacement process, including 66 specialized companies and more than a thousand geographically distributed outlets to cover various regions, thus facilitating the exchange of old banknotes for the new denominations for citizens.
New currency denominations and conversion mechanism
Regarding the details of the currency denominations, the governor stated that the new Syrian currency will be issued in six main denominations: 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 500 Syrian pounds. The new mechanism involves removing two zeros from the face value, so one new pound is equivalent to 100 pounds of the old currency, while a new 500-pound note is equivalent to 50,000 pounds of the old issue. This step primarily aims to reduce the amount of cash citizens have to carry for simple daily transactions, thus alleviating the burden of excessive cash circulation.
The economic context and the importance of the step
This step comes within a significant economic context, as countries typically resort to "removing zeros" or nominal currency revaluation after periods of inflation. This aims to simplify accounting and financial operations in banks and companies, and to reduce the cost of printing worn-out banknotes. The official emphasized that this measure is a change only in the "nominal value" and will not affect the real purchasing power of the currency or the value of savings. The money supply will remain constant without inflationary additions. He also noted that the Central Bank will reopen its branch in Idlib Governorate to ensure comprehensive service coverage, similar to other Syrian governorates.
Security and anti-rumor features
Regarding the technical specifications, the governor of the Central Bank confirmed that the new currency boasts state-of-the-art security features that make counterfeiting extremely difficult, in addition to special features to help the visually impaired and blind easily distinguish between the denominations. In a related matter, he denied the authenticity of the images circulating on social media, emphasizing that the Central Bank is the sole entity authorized to reveal the official designs, which will begin this week.
Schedule and flexibility
The Central Bank has set January 1, 2026, as the official date for launching the new currency and beginning its circulation. To reassure the Syrian public, the governor clarified that the decree regarding the currency exchange did not specify a closing date for the exchange process, but rather left the matter to the Central Bank to ensure a smooth and orderly process without any time pressure on citizens. He called on everyone to cooperate in preserving the value of the national currency.
