ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - After a dramatic uptick in value over the past few days, the Syrian Lira began declining on Sunday as demand for the currency waned in the Kurdistan Region markets.
On Sunday, one million Syrian Lira exchanged for 520,000 Iraqi dinars (about $345), according to Rawaz Mirza, an exchange office owner at the Sulaimani exchange market.
The price of one million Syrian Liras surged to 700,000 dinars (about $466) on Saturday, the highest since the collapse of the Syrian regime last week.
“The decline is due to an abundance of Lira and low demand, as buyers sell it off immediately,” Mirza told Rudaw.
Before the collapse of Syria’s Baathist regime, headed by Bashar al-Assad, one million Syrian Lira was valued at 100,000 Iraqi dinars (around $75).
In Damascus, 1 million Syrian Lira exchanges for just $100, making it less valuable than in the Kurdistan Region, according to Rudaw’s reporter on the ground.
However, the price of the Syrian currency fluctuates constantly in the Syrian market, as the value of the Lira changes every hour.
Syria’s civil war dramatically reignited late last month when a coalition of rebels led by the jihadist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a blistering offensive against the Syrian army, ending over five decades of Baathist rule.
