Syrian PM denies rumor about changing Syria's currency

Syrian Prime Minister Wael al- Halqi denied on Thursday recent media reports about the government 's desire to change the Syrian currency to cope with the sharp decline in its value, according to the state-TV. Al-Halqi said the government has neither an intention to change its currency nor to nationalize private banks, according to the report. Stressing that the rumors are unfounded, al-Halqi said the Central Bank of Syria (CBS) will keep its intervention to bring back the exchange rate of the Syrian pound to "acceptable levels." The remarks came a day after some media said that they had got confirmed information that the government made a proposal to the Syrian leadership to change the currency, and alleged that this measure would be the only way to make all the quantities of the Syrian pound, which were pumped abroad to maintain speculation and fund gunmen, worthless. A U.S. dollar was traded Wednesday at 325 Syrian pounds in the black market, up from 230 Syrian pounds a week earlier. But the Syrian pound regained some of its value by Wednesday afternoon and a dollar was traded at 280 Syrian pounds in the black market Thursday. A day earlier, CBS Governor Adib Malyaleh made a presentation about the reality of the Syrian pound and the actions taken to maintain the stability of the exchange rate of the currency, pointing out to the presence of a false and misleading media war that accompanies the overall war that targets the national economy and aims to shake people's confidence in the government's ability to improve the economic status quo. He meanwhile confirmed the keenness of the central bank to maintain the exchange rate and not to put additional burdens on the citizen, adding that the CBS has a good reserve of foreign exchange and is capable of pumping them into the market at appropriate times.