Beirut, (SANA) – Chairman of the Union of Arab Banks Adnan Yousif on Tuesday said "monetary situation in Syria is good and the Syrian banks are strong enough to overcome the current stage as the Syrian Pound hasn’t been affected by the recent events."

In a statement to Reuters, Yousif, who also the Chief Executive of the Bahraini al-Baraka Islamic Bank operating in Syria, said "we have noticed there have been some SYP withdrawals which were converted into USD but they didn’t exceed 7% or 8 %," noting that that the money didn't leave the country.

He added that the Central Bank of Syria pumped more liquidity into the Syrian market and it was a wise move.

Yousif said that he reviewed the situation with the Syrian banks today, affirming that the withdrawals have stopped and the deposits didn’t change, reiterating that "Syrian banks are in good situation."

"The slight slump of the Syrian Pound was less than 10%. It might be considered a mere fluctuation," he added, indicating that the recent events haven't had that much impact.

Al-Baraka Bank plans to open 5 branches in Syria in the next two days. The branches will be in Homs, Aleppo and Hama.

R. Raslan/ H. Said