<p>BEIRUT — Syria devalued the official price of its local currency on Thursday two days after the central bank governor was sacked, state media reported. </p>
<p>The decision came after the Syrian pound crashed over the recent months in the war-torn country, hitting records low and throwing more Syrians into poverty.</p>
<p>The central bank said the official price of the dollar will be 2,512 pounds after it was fixed at 1,256 since June last year. </p>
<p>The Syrian pound set a record in March trading on the black market at 4,600 pounds to one U.S. dollar before improving to 3,100. At the start of the conflict in mid-March 2011, the U.S. dollar was worth 47 Syrian pounds.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, President Bashar Assad sacked central bank governor Hazem Qarfoul from the post he held since late 2018. No replacement has been named so far. </p>
<p>The pound has been hit hard by the war, corruption, Western sanctions and more recently a financial and economic collapse in neighboring Lebanon. Syrians are believed to have billions of dollars blocked in Lebanese banks that have imposed harsh capital controls since late 2019.</p>
<p>The average salary in Syria is about 90,000 pounds ($29) per month making it difficult for many Syrians to survive.</p>
<p>The United Nations estimates that nearly 80% of Syrians live under the poverty line. In recent months, fuel and wheat have been in short supply, driving the government to reduce subsidies and ration resources.</p>
