Central Bank Governor: No extension of currency exchange after July 31

The Central Bank of Syria has completed 63% of the process of replacing the old monetary denominations with the new Syrian pound, according to Governor Mohammad Safwat Raslan, who stressed that the next stage will be "decisive" in closing this monetary file.

In a  post on the X platform, Raslan said that the percentage achieved so far reflects "significant progress" in completion rates, noting that cooperation between citizens and the financial sector has been a key factor in accelerating the process.

The governor said that the bank decided to extend the replacement period for an additional 30 days from July 1 to July 31, 2026, stressing that this extension is the "last chance" for citizens and institutions to replace the remaining old denominations in their possession.

The governor called on all banks, exchange and remittance companies to completely refrain from re-injecting any old banknotes during the remaining period, and to commit to delivering the new Syrian pound exclusively in all withdrawals and exchanges.

Raslan stressed  the Central Bank's  full commitment to providing the necessary quantities of the new currency and meeting the needs of citizens and the financial sector, in order to ensure that the new Syrian pound is the currency in circulation exclusively after the expiry of the specified period.

The target cash mass is about 42 trillion old pounds

The figures indicate that the target old monetary mass is about 42 trillion old Syrian pounds , and the extension issued yesterday is the third of its kind since the launch of the Syrian currency replacement project at the beginning of this year, as the Central Bank of Syria has previously extended the deadline for replacing the old Syrian currency with the new one for 60 days under the decision of the governor of the bank from April 1 to May 31, 2026 .

 The second extension was issued at the end  of last April and extended the replacement period from June 1 to June 30, 2026, in order to complete the exchange of remaining papers in the markets and facilitate the access of people in the eastern and northern governorates to the exchange centers, according to a statement by the bank at the time.

Conditions for replacing the small pieces and small pieces

The Central Bank of Syria has set basic conditions for the replacement of small denominations of cash according to clear controls that customers adhere to when submitting old banknotes, as it stipulates that the number of pieces provided in one transaction should not be less than 100 notes of the same denomination, such as 100 notes of the old 200 pound denomination, to ensure the smooth flow of work and organize the replacement operations.

The bank obliged the citizen or authorized person to sort and arrange the papers in advance according to categories in the form of separate bundles before handing them over to the cashier, with the aim of speeding up manual and automated counting and easing congestion inside the exchange centers.

The Bank confirmed that it accepts worn out papers from small denominations as long as the serial number is clear, provided that the remaining area of the paper is not less than two-thirds of its original size, while the papers that are completely distorted or have lost their basic features are referred to the Deformity Assessment Committee at the Central Bank's main branch, to determine the possibility of compensating them according to the approved standards.