Syria halts cellphone imports to shore up forex reserves

Damascus: Syria has stopped granting licences for mobile phone imports, pro-government media reported Wednesday, in a move the telecoms authority said was meant to shore up tight foreign exchange reserves.

After a decade of war and hit by Western sanctions, Syria is in the grip of a deep economic crisis with a plummeting currency, the pain deepened by the coronavirus pandemic and a financial crunch in neighbouring Lebanon.

In one of the government responses, “the economy ministry has issued a decision banning the import of mobile phones until further notice”, Al-Watan newspaper said on its website.