Governor of the CBS: The rise in the dollar exchange rate as a result of a systematic campaign to weaken the Syrian pound and the national economy

DAMASCUS- The Governor of the Central Bank of Syria, Dr. Hazem Qarfoul, confirmed today that the high exchange rate of the US dollar is part of a systematic campaign to weaken the Syrian pound and the economy, undermine confidence in the central bank and its procedures and push citizens to fear and abandon their national currency.

He said in a telephone conversation with the Syrian News Channel that the campaign coincided with the US Penal Code (Caesar), which was imposed on Syria, expressing his regret for some people who are satisfied with, deliberately or unintentionally, that economic war being waged against Syria.

Mr. Qarfoul said  that the basic compass of the Central Bank of Syria is the interest of the citizen, the treasury of the state and the national economy and the care of national industry, pointing out that the bank is not interested in the game of luring by some websites and means of social communication and “some media” to push the central Bank to raise the exchange rate and pay it to high levels.

He pointed out that the central bank is primarily concerned with the livelihood of the citizen, the national economy, the reduction of costs and not those who imagine that they could make a pressure on the central bank to raise the exchange rate to achieve their own interests.

In reply to a question whether the exchange rate of the dollar is real or imaginary, he said: This rise is deceptive and has no economic justification and has no basis whatsoever on the ground, but some speculators and some who have accumulated a good amount of dollars accustomed to a particular policy adopted in the past by the central bank that when a kind of tension is created in the foreign exchange market and the difference in price reaches between 30 and 50 Syrian pounds, the central bank takes an initiative to move the bulletin or pump tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, but today the speculators should accept that there is a new policy of the central bank saying that every dollar exists in the bank and the Syrian state is the right of the citizen and the Syrian economy including oil, medicine and production supplies and we are not interested in placing this foreign currency in the pockets of speculators and a few traders who imagine that the central bank will lean into this game and raise the exchange rate or pump dollars.

In reply to another question: Is it possible to adjust the reality of the Syrian pound against the dollar today, Mr. Qarfoul said: Certainly, monetary policy is at the service of economic policy and we can’t direct all the resources to serve the exchange rate, explaining that the exchange rate can be set through the policies pursued by the Central Bank of Syria, which aims primarily to create incentives in the national economy, push the economic wheel and resume economic activity by ensuring access of many individuals and companies to sources of funding.

He stressed that the bank will take legal action against all those who letthemselvesbe seduced to manipulate the exchange rate or pressure the central bank to push it to options against the interest of the citizen and the national economy.

“The bank and through its tools and the Anti-Money Laundering Authority has done many tasks to control all sites that manipulate the exchange rate of the Syrian pound or persons who employ illegal activities aimed at weakening the Syrian pound,” Mr. Qarfoul added.

He pointed out that the question that every citizen should ask, “who is the beneficiary of raising the exchange rate … Why this fierce campaign to put the central bank under the slogan that there is a big difference between the official price and the parallel price and that this gap must be bridged.”

“The real target today is the Syrian pound, which requires a lot of awareness, especially that raising the exchange rate will not serve the citizen or the national industry because it will raise the costs of national production and will rise prices to high levels in the war that affected the purchasing power of citizens and made their incomes low,” Mr. Qarfoul clarified.

He added that the government has made all possible efforts to support the export sector through supporting the farmer, providing electricity, fuel and providing all the conditions to participate in exhibitions and bear the expenses of air transport, including direct support for exports and therefore, as we hear through the reports of the Exporters Federation that our exports reach more than 100 countries and worth to more than $ 4 or 5 billion and these large amounts of money are the right of the Syrian state, the citizen and the Syrian economy.

In reply to a question that some who say that the reason for the recent rise in the exchange rate some of the traders affected by anti-corruption measures or control of the corrupt environment Mr. Qarfoul said: Unfortunately, Yes … there are some hard positions published on the websites and target the Central Bank and try to distort the facts and mislead the public opinion by saying that “these actions will harm the Syrian industry” and there are few consider that their interests will be affected if the Central Bank to approve the restoration of export quotas.

And about the silence of the Central Bank of everything published and is said through the media about the high exchange rate, Mr. Qarfoul said that the central bank is not interested in responding to everything that is said of rumors, confusion and misleading because the CBS follows a conservative policy and speaks when there is a new decision or a new policy.

Sharif al -Khatib