Syrian Central Bank denies ban on dealings in foreign currencies

Governor of Central Bank of Syria Adib Mayyaleh affirmed on Sunday that rumors about issuing a law prohibiting dealings in currencies other than the Syrian Pound and penalizes those who deal in foreign currencies with 13 years of prison are baseless. Mayyaleh told SANA that no such law, decree, resolution or any procedure has been issued to this effect, asserting that current laws and regulations allow for purchasing foreign currency for trade and non-trade purposes. He said that the spreading of these rumors aims at undermining the positive intervention carried out by the CBS to stabilize the SYP exchange rate which resulted in positive results within the past few days, noting that whenever the CBS acts to stabilize exchange rates, some sides interfere to weaken the SYP and make citizens lose confidence in it. Mayyaleh asserted that market intervention is ongoing to stabilize exchange rates and that banks and exchange companies will continue to meet demands for foreign currency.