Syria prevents the two mobile phone companies from transferring sums abroad without consent

Well-informed sources in Damascus said that the Syrian minister of telecommunications Muhammad Bashir al-Munajjid issued a decision on September 19 in which he made it compulsory for the two mobile phone companies in Damascus to allocate all their revenues of subscription and bills in the specialized Syrian banks, and to prevent the transfer of these sums abroad, unless they receive the approval from the telecommunications establishment to show the reason and objective behind the transfer.

The Syrian pound had witnessed another devaluation after it had witnessed a slight improvement in the two past days. No certain view was given on the reasons of the great and sudden devaluation in the value of the Syrian pounds in comparison to the US dollar.

Meantime, the Syrian official news agency SANA quoted a decision by the Syrian minister of the economy Ghassan al-Rifa'i in which he asks the Syrian commercial bank to give necessary foreign currency for industrialists who want to finance their imports of raw materials and necessary production requirements for manufacturing and re-exportation..

In his decision which was circulated to the directorates of the economy in the Syrian provinces, the Syrian minister stressed the need of refunding the foreign currency to the Syrian commercial bank from the outcome of the exports resulting in processing and exporting raw materials, and production needs imported by industrialists concerned, within a period of time not to exceed one year as from the date of opening the LC ( Letter of Credit ) by the Syrian commercial bank in order to finance these imports.

SANA said that the request of the Syrian minister of the economy and foreign trade came at the consent of the prime minister Muhammad Mustafa Miro and the minute of meetings of the joint committee of the representatives of the ministry of the economy and foreign trade, the central bank and the Syrian commercial bank.