Pound Under Pressure
The Syrian pound (SYP) has weakened by roughly 4% against the US dollar (USD) over the past week, trading near 14,600 to the dollar. Against that backdrop, the Central Bank of Syria moved to reassure the public over its ongoing program to replace the country's banknotes.
A Five-Year Window
The bank's governor, Muhammad Safwat Raslan, said the 30 July 2026 deadline for swapping old notes through banks and licensed exchange companies does not cancel citizens' rights to the cash they still hold. A withdrawal period of five years will follow that date, during which holders may continue to exchange older currency.
Detailed procedures governing the five-year window are to be announced separately, the governor said, without giving a date.
Proceeding to Plan
Raslan said the replacement process "proceeds according to the established plan within the announced timeframes." He noted that the original timetable had already been widened once, through a 30-day extension announced in May 2026 to give banks and exchange firms more room to process the swap.
What Holders Face
The clarification matters for households and small businesses still holding large volumes of older notes. By confirming a multi-year runway after the July deadline, the bank signaled that cash on hand would not be rendered worthless once the initial swap period closes.
For now, the message to the public is that the two stages — a near-term deadline for routine exchange and a longer grace period thereafter — are running in parallel rather than as a single hard cut-off.
A Currency in Transition
The pound has lost close to 8% against the dollar over the past month, leaving Syrians to manage both a depreciating currency and the practicalities of trading in older notes. The banknote replacement remains one of the most visible monetary operations underway in the country.