Syria's economic turmoil worsened in 2019 when neighbouring Lebanon, with which it has extensive economic and financial ties, also descended into crisis. Damascus then introduced a plethora of exchange rates for different transactions to safeguard scarce hard currency.

President Donald Trump’s announcement that the U.S. will ease sanctions on Syria could eventually facilitate the country’s recovery from years of civil war and transform the lives of everyday Syrians.

The Trump administration's announcement this week of the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria drew bipartisan praise.