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Central Bank of Syria releases new 1,000 SYP bills

Xinhua, June 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Central Bank of Syria (CBS) released on Tuesday new 1,000 Syrian Pounds bills, according to the state news agency SANA.

The governor of the CBS Adib Mayyaleh said the step is part of the continuing efforts to improve the paper currency in circulation and to help maintain the integrity of paper currency and protecting it from being damaged as a result of repeated use.

The new bill was debut during a press conference held at the CBS headquarters in Damascus, during which Mayaaleh announced that the new banknotes were printed in Russia and have new security features.

Meanwhile, the CBS governor stressed that the bank released the notes as a substitute to the old and worn-out bills, not as additional currency to the one currently in circulation.

"We have released the new bills only as replacements to the old and damaged ones and we are terminating the old ones and replacing them with new ones. So far we have withdrawn 75 billion SYP of the 1,000 bills and pumped only one billion of the new notes, meaning that we have to pump additional 65 billion soon," he said.

Regarding the unstable exchange rate of the Syrian pound against major currencies like to the U.S. dollars, Mayaaleh said the CBS aspires to maintain the exchange rates at acceptable levels, while preserving the monetary reserve of the CBS.

While the 1,000 SYP is the highest denomination banknote, the CBS governor said the "general levels of the prices and the inflation rate are not yet at the level that would require the CBS to release higher denomination banknotes."

He noted that the new banknotes will not affect inflation rates as they replace worn-out banknotes, adding that the new bills will be put at ATMs in the capital Damascus, and the coastal cities of Lattakia and Tartous on Wednesday, and will gradually reach other provinces. Endit