In an extraordinary statement, Syrian interim Prime Minister Muhammad al-Bashir confirmed that his government does not hold any foreign currency, stressing that what remains in the treasury is “the Syrian pound, which is worth nothing.”

This statement reinforced doubts about the regime that stole all of the country’s currency and gold reserves before its fall.

Ahmed al-Sharaa (Abu Muhammad al-Julani), commander of the military operations department in Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, also stated last Saturday that there is a real economic tragedy, and that there are plans to address it after the data collection is complete.

Did Assad steal the money of the Syrian people? How was it smuggled? Who helped facilitate this process? What is considered one of the largest organized robberies the region has witnessed in modern times.

Cash and Gold: Unclear and Lack of Transparency
Analysis of monetary reserve and gold data, and a review of documents available in open sources, shows that the Syrian Central Bank has not published its reserve data for more than a decade, and it is unclear how much reserve was available.

According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Syria's reserves amounted to $18.5 billion in 2010, that is, before the outbreak of the Syrian revolution.

As for gold reserves, the World Gold Council reported that Syria held 25.82 tons of the precious metal in June 2011, which constitutes 12% of the central bank's reserves.