Syria Faces Cash Crisis: Long Queues, Limited Withdrawals

Photo: AFP

In the center of Damascus, the capital of Syria, a 77-year-old man named Abu Fares sits on the sidewalk outside a bank. His face looks tired and worn out. He has been waiting for four hours just to collect a small part of his pension.

“I’ve been sitting here for hours and still haven’t been able to get any money,” he said. “There’s not enough cash in the machines and the lines are too long.”

Ever since Syria’s president, Bashar Al Assad, was removed from power last December, the country has been trying to recover from nearly 14 years of civil war. But the banking system is still in very bad shape.

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For many years, the Assad family was hit with harsh international sanctions. These penalties made life very hard for people in Syria. According to the United Nations, about 90% of Syrians now live in poverty.

Because of a severe cash shortage, the government has had to set strict limits on how much money people can take out of the bank. This has made daily life very difficult for many Syrians.

Before Assad was removed, Russia was in charge of printing Syria’s money. Since the change in leadership, the new government says they have received just one shipment of banknotes from Russia.

Syria has about 1.25 million government workers. These employees must go to one of only two government banks or a few ATMs to get their salaries. But there is a daily limit—they can only take out 200,000 Syrian pounds each day. On the black market, that’s worth about 20 US dollars. Many people even have to take a day off from work just to wait in line for cash.

“There are sick people, there are old people like me… we can't keep living like this,” said Abu Fares.

Tiny Amounts, Long Waits

An employee at a private bank, who didn’t want to share her name, said, “There really isn’t enough cash. That’s why we have to shut off the ATMs after work hours.”

Outside the Commercial Bank of Syria, around 300 people wait in a long, unorganized line. Some are even sitting on the ground.

Afraa Jumaa, a 43-year-old government worker, said that most of the money she withdraws goes toward paying for transportation to and from the bank.

“It’s really hard. We need our money fast,” she said. “It’s not okay that we spend so many hours or days just to take out a small amount.”

The Syrian pound has lost almost all of its value since the war began in 2011. Before that, one US dollar was worth about 50 Syrian pounds. Now it’s much worse.

Economist Georges Khouzam explained that some people who sell foreign money are taking advantage of the crisis. These sellers, who were banned under Assad, are keeping Syrian pounds off the market to make the currency more unstable. This helps them make bigger profits.

Muntaha Abbas, another government worker who is 37 years old, said she had to come back three times to take out her full salary of 500,000 pounds.

“There are lots of ATMs in Damascus,” she said, “but very few of them actually work.”

After waiting for five hours, she was finally able to take out 200,000 pounds.

“Our lives are just lines and more lines,” she said sadly. “That’s what life feels like now.”