After sacking central bank governor, Syria devalues pound

Syria’s central bank devalued the pound on Thursday, bringing the currency’s official exchange rate closer to the black market rate, two days after the government sacked its governor.

The pound was now officially valued at 2,512 to the US dollar from around 1,250 previously, central bank data showed. The black market rate is more than 3,000 to the greenback.

The move means the Syrian currency has officially shed more than 98 percent of its value since the start of the country’s civil war in 2011.

It follows the government’s decision to dismiss central bank governor Hazem Karfoul on Tuesday after a three-year tenure that coincided with a severe economic crisis