Assad face printed on Syrian currency for first time

MENA

Published: 2017-07-02 18:33

Last Updated: 2024-03-18 06:57


Assad on Syria's currency. (Photo courtesy of SANA)
Assad on Syria's currency. (Photo courtesy of SANA)

President Bashar al-Assad has appeared on the Syrian currency for the first time, with his portrait printed on a new SYP 2,000 banknote.

The new Syrian banknotes went into circulation on Sunday in Damascus and a number of other provinces, according to Durain Durgham, the Governor of the central Bank of Syria.

At a press conference, Durgham said the Bank believed it was the right time to put the higher-value notes into circulation, due to the ‘wear and tear’ that has affected the current currency, according to Syrian official news agency SANA.

The new note is equal to around $4 at current exchange rates. Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, the currency has plunged in value from 47 pounds to the dollar in 2010 to around 500 pounds to the dollar at present.

Previously, the highest denomination of Syrian banknote was 1,000 pounds.