Foreign currency accounts do not exceed US $6.5 million in Syrian banks

Official sources in Damascus estimated that total foreign currency accounts in the Syrian state-run banks do not exceed US $6.5 million and number of account holders does not exceed 2,597 citizens, following two years of the decision taken by the government to open bank accounts to foreign currency.

The state-run Syrian daily Tishreen said that, "Most of the Syrian citizens do not find their benefits in the banks" adding " despite the facts that the interest rate of the Syrian commercial banks are not less than those of the international interest rates for the US dollar." The paper noted that law 24, which imposes a sever penalty on dealers with hard currency constitutes one of the reasons behind the absence of confidence in the Syrian banks.

The Syrian Commercial Bank is the only side which is responsible for supplying internal and external trade. It provides most foreign operations relating to imports, exports, providing bank services to emigrants and foreigners alike in the buying and selling of hard currency and opening current accounts in foreign currencies.