A new 2,000-pound banknote featuring the portrait of Syrian President Bashar Assad entered circulation “in Damascus and a number of the provinces” according to an announcement made by Syrian Central Bank Governor Duraid Durgham earlier this month.
It’s first time the country’s central bank has depicted Assad, who took office nearly two decades ago, on its currency. According to Durgham, the notes, which are worth about $12 Cdn., were issued on July 2.
LARGEST SYRIAN BANKNOTE DENOMINATION
At 2000 Syrian pounds, it’s also the country’s largest denomination—an honour previously bestowed to its 1,000-pound banknote, one version of which depicts Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, who died in 2000.
In 1997, the Syrian Central Bank issued a 1,000-pound banknote (shown above) featuring a portrait of Assad’s late father, Hafez al-Assad, who died in 2000.
In 2013, the country’s central bank replaced Hafez al-Assad’s image on the 1,000-pound note with an image of an ancient Roman theatre located in the southern Daraa province.