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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Syrian economy’s freefall has put many people in a position where they can barely afford essentials. Battered by war, isolation, and impending sanctions, things are only expected to get worse.
Before Syria spiraled into conflict in March 2011, one US dollar was worth around 45 Syrian Pounds. This week, it trades for as much as 3,000 at grey market currency exchange offices. This dramatic decrease has affected the lives of nearly everyone in Syria, including in the northeast part of the country known to Kurds as Rojava.
“Markets are closed because the price of dollar is very high,” Amir Telo, a resident of Qamishli, told Rudaw. Since the prices of most essentials are so high, “life has become very hard,” he said.
Fees for running private generators, who many families use to power electricity in their homes, have increased fees because they purchase fuel oil in dollars, according to Mihyaddin Abdullah, owner of a private generator in Qamishli.
The crisis spans all areas of a divided Syria. For a second consecutive day, protesters poured onto the streets in the southern Syrian city of Suweida, chanting anti-government slogans and calling for the departure of President Bashar al-Assad.
On paper, the official exchange rate in Syria is fixed at 700 pounds to the dollar. However, the price of a dollar at currency exchange offices where traders buy and sell hard currency is universally much higher — with some exchange offices selling at up to 3,000 Syrian Pounds this week.
The US is expected to implement new sanctions on Syria under the Caesar Act, which will target government officials and firms who do business with the state. When the sanctions go into effect on June 17," doing business with Syria will become even more difficult and risky," Heiko Wimmen, Syria project director at the conflict tracker Crisis Group, told AFP.
“My husband is a government employee. He receives $26 and I have been a teacher for 20 years but my salary is only $23 which does not feed us for even three days,” Hamrin Najat, a teacher from Qamishli, told Rudaw on Monday, referring to the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES).
She says she keeps her fingers crossed for a better future.
Additional reporting by Rengin Shero
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