As Ramadan Nears, Syrians Feel the Pinch of a Cash Shortage

New York Times

28-02-2025

Days before the start of Ramadan, lines of people snaked down the stairs outside a bank in Syria's capital, Damascus, waiting for hours to withdraw the equivalent of about $15 for the requisite holiday shopping.
The new government has imposed severe daily withdrawal limits of about that amount at Syrian banks, dampening what would usually be a festive time as many struggle to buy even the basics for the holy fasting month.
'That can buy maybe a kilo and a half of meat,' said Sleiman Dawoud, a 56-year-old civil engineer among those waiting in the A.T.M. line to withdraw that $15 — 200,000 in Syrian pounds. 'But what about the bread, and vegetables and fruits? Ramadan is coming, and we need to spend.'
Ra'if Ghnaim, 75, a retired civil servant, fretted about how he would afford the tradition of giving children small amounts of money at the end of Ramadan as he waited to take out some cash.
'How are we going to celebrate and give gifts to the children?' he asked.
This year, Ramadan falls three months after the ouster of the Assad dictatorship that ruled Syria with an iron first for more than five decades. The rebel coalition that has taken over the government in Damascus has instituted several economic changes.
It opened the market to imported products. It eliminated bread subsidies — making the staple food 10 times more expensive. It laid off thousands of public-sector employees. And it capped cash withdrawals at A.T.M.s.
The prices of many goods other than bread have fallen since the new government took over, but many Syrians still can't buy them because of the withdrawal limits in a cash-based economy where the widespread use of credit cards and e-payments has never taken hold.
Getting cash out has become a part-time job of sorts as Syrians spend hours or even days trying to withdraw enough cash to live, much less splurge during a time of large family gatherings and feasts.
As Syrian pounds have dried up and the government has started shifting economic policy, the currency has begun to strengthen after more than a decade of weakening.
Before the Syrian civil war began in 2011, the exchange rate was about 50 Syrian pounds to the U.S. dollar. When the government was overthrown in December, it was about 15,000, but has since fallen.
The Syrian Central Bank, Economy Ministry and Interior Ministry did not respond to questions.
The Central Bank alluded to the withdrawal limits in a December statement, saying the measures would be temporary. But they have now lasted for months.
This month, a planeload of newly minted Syrian pounds arrived from Russia, where they are printed, according to the state news media. The amount was not made public.
'They indeed do not have enough bank notes. They have a liquidity crisis,' said Karam Shaar, a political economist and senior fellow at the New Lines Institute, a Washington-based think tank, who has been meeting with Syrian officials.
'The current monetary policy that the Central Bank is considering is not finalized, and it doesn't seem to be coherent' he added.
More than 90 percent of Syrians live in poverty, and one in four is unemployed, according to the United Nations. And on the ground, and in long bank lines across the country, many are suffering.
'We'll have to cancel the suhoor,' Mahmoud Embarak, a 60-year-old retired military officer, said of the pre-dawn meal that Muslims eat before the start of the daily fast.
He said that the new government had recently cut his pension and that his family was now living off his wife's nursing pension.
'It won't be as happy of a time as it has been in the past,' Mr. Embarak added.
Ahlam Kasem, 45, cringed at the mention of Ramadan.
She was waiting in the bank line to withdraw 200,000 Syrian pounds (about $15) from her monthly salary of 380,000 (about $28) as a civil engineer with the agriculture ministry.
'They told us the government doesn't have any money, the Central Bank doesn't have, the banks don't have,' she said. 'We have so many questions and there are no answers.'
So, along with her husband, she took a minibus from their town of Saboora, about 10 miles away, and paid 10,000 Syrian pounds each to get to an A.T.M. at the Damascus bank.
She will have to make another trip on another day to withdraw the rest of her salary.
That still won't buy much for her family of five — much less for the large gatherings to break the fast characteristic of Ramadan.
'There won't be dinner parties or anything' said Ms. Kasem, who is among the many civil servants who have been laid off with a severance of three months' salary.
As she spoke, a man rapped on the bank's metal door, trying to get the attention of an employee inside. No one came.
'We have now gotten to point in Syria where even a cup of coffee may be too much of a hardship for someone to offer you,' she said. 'We're a very social people, but we've gotten to the point where we don't want to visit anyone so as not to put any pressure on them for even a cup of coffee, much less lunch or dinner.'
Those concerns were top of mind at the Bab Sraijeh market, a bustling cluster of shops and street vendors along a cobblestone street in the old city of Damascus. The sound of motorcycles driving through occasionally drowned out the competing offers that sellers were yelling out.
'Ten, ten, practically free,' a young man hollered repeatedly, offering a kilogram of olives for 10,000 pounds, less than one dollar.
At a small shop selling Ramadan decorations — wooden crescent moons, colorful lanterns and string lights — it was mostly quiet. Occasionally, someone would inquire about the price of an ornament and then walk off without buying anything.
'People don't have money,' said Nour al-Hamwi, 37, who was helping her husband at the shop. 'The banks don't have money, Syria doesn't have money.'
Last year, the items were flying off the shelves, her husband said. Now, people are buying only necessities.
'The Ramadan atmosphere will be weaker this year,' Anwar Hamid said.
Fatima Hussain Ali, 56, and her husband, Ha'il Ali Jasser, 59, were each carrying several stuffed grocery bags of spices, cheese and flour as they made their way through the market.
The staples of Ramadan — olive leaves, oil, rice, bulgur wheat — are cheaper than before the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. But the couple, who have eight children, were still buying much less than in previous Ramadans.
'Prices are cheaper, but there isn't money,' she said.
Except for bread, which has gone from 400 pounds to 4,000 pounds.
She doubted they would host any dinner parties this year. If they did, she joked, they might have to ask their guests to B.Y.O.B.: bring your own bread.