A scene in Lebanon repeated in Syria .. The scarcity of liquidity creates queues

The scarcity of the Syrian money is pushing to throw themselves into long lines, in the hope of obtaining their necessary money to secure their necessary living needs, a scene that Lebanon has witnessed during the past years in front of the banks.

Among them is a man named Abu Firas, who sat on the sidewalk to rest after he waited hours in a queue in front of a government bank in Damascus without obtaining a part even from his salary, as he is like many Syrians who test the same hardship daily due to a lack of liquidity in the country.

In an interview with “Agence France Presse”, the retired employee says: “I have been here for nearly four hours, and I haven’t been able to receive my salary yet.”

“There are long lines of expected people, and there is not enough money in the automatic cashiers,” added the 77 -year -old while waiting in the sun with dozens of others in front of the Syrian government commercial bank branch in the center of Damascus.

This phenomenon grew after the Central Bank of Syria imposed last February, restrictions on the withdrawal of cash money from banks and mechanical departments, which put the Syrians in front of a monetary crisis added to a series of economic problems it suffers, inherited in most of them from the rule of ousted President Bashar al -Assad, who was overthrown by opposition factions, Vikonon I last.

In a country, about one million and 250 thousand people work in its public sector, according to the authorities, these employees are forced to stand hours in queues in front of the branches of government banks or ATMs.

Some of them take a vacation from their work to spend a full day in an attempt to withdraw a small part of their salaries, and this is withdrawn from the depositors who want to withdraw some of their savings in the Syrian pound.

Here, Abu Faris explains that “there are patients and elderly, and we cannot remain in this condition.”

Difficult situations pressure on the Syrians

The conflict in Syria, which spanned the 14 years of the local economy, and its crises increased the severity of sanctions imposed by several countries, especially Western ones, on the previous regime.

The Central Bank circulated to government and private banks to adhere to a daily ceiling to withdraw 200 thousand pounds (about 20 dollars) per person, which can be raised when liquidity is available, according to an employee in a private bank.

“There is a clear shortage of liquidity, and we do not control all our bank’s deposits in the central bank, and therefore we move daily with our customers within a specific budget that cannot be exceeded, and for this reason we also close the cashiers with the end of the official working hours.”.

This crisis doubled the burdens of the Syrians in a country that lives 90% of its population below the poverty line, according to the United Nations. Some parties, including the European Union, reduced the sanctions on Damascus, but this has not yet been tangible on the diaries of the Syrians.

In front of the government commercial bank, about three hundred people stood in overlapping queues slowly progressing, and some of them sat on the ground after he was tired of the length of standing.

The government employee, Afra Jumaa, 43, confirms that she spends the money that she can withdraw to pay the road fare, and says: “The situation is difficult and we need to seize our salaries and withdraw our deposits as soon as possible, and it is not acceptable to wait for days to withdraw small sums.” She adds: “We have to delay our obligations until we get our money, and this is not always available, and people demand us for rents and to block the accumulated debts on us.”

Drying liquidity in the Syrian economy

After the outbreak of the conflict, and in light of the economic sanctions against the previous rule, the printing of Syrian banknotes became exclusively in Russia, which was an ally of Assad and resorted to with the progress of the opposition factions to Damascus in late last year.

Improving the exchange rate of the lira is one of the most prominent financial challenges in Syria after the deterioration of its value against the dollar. Before the outbreak of the conflict in 2011, the dollar was equal to about fifty pounds, before the local currency gradually fell and lost more than ninety percent of its value. The official exchange rate has recently been approximately ten thousand pounds against the dollar, while it was ranging at the level of 15,000 in the months before the overthrow of Assad.

Among the stands outside the commercial bank, the government employee, Mnazi Abbas, 37, who receives a salary of 500,000 pounds, which is equivalent to about 50 dollars.

According to the restrictions of clouds, Abbas needs three attempts to take her full monthly salary. After the lady who put a five -hour white veil, she was able to get 200,000 pounds, provided that the attempt to take the next day is repeated.

In her speech, Abbas says: “There are a lot of cashiers in Damascus, but what works of them is a few, and the reason in my opinion is that there are no sufficient amounts of money,” adding that “our lives are lines.”