Upon taking Lebanon and Syria under its separate mandate, the French government sought to replace the Egyptian currency and granted a commercial bank, the Banque de Syrie (a French affiliate of the Ottoman Bank), the authority to issue a currency for territories under its new mandate.

The market was allowed to flourish because everybody, including government and public sector companies, needed it.

[8] There was a capital flight to nearby countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, as a result of the Syrian Civil War that started in 2011.

To circumvent the sanctions, Syrians effected foreign transactions through banks in neighbouring countries, especially Lebanon.

[9] As a result, the official exchange rate has deteriorated significantly, falling from LS 47 = US$1 in March 2011[10] to LS 515 = US$1 in July 2017 and 7500 = US$1 in April 2023 (after the Lebanese liquidity crisis) On 31 October 2019, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad mentioned in an interview that liberating territories had complex economic consequences.

While it removed foreign-funded support for terrorists, it also cut off dollar inflows that stabilize local economies: One factor which people are not aware of, is that the liberation of an area does not necessarily serve the Syrian pound, because by liberating an area, we are removing its access to dollars which were paid to the terrorists to cover their needs and expenses.

[citation needed] Since July 2007, the Syrian pound has been pegged to the IMF SDR (Special Drawing Rights).

[8] On 29 November 2019, following the Lebanese protests, the black market rate was LS 765 = US$1, a decrease of 30% since the turmoil started in Lebanon a month earlier, as the protests led Lebanese banks to impose tight controls on hard currency withdrawals and transfers abroad, making it hard for Syrians to access funds held by them in those banks.

[14] During the COVID-19 pandemic in Syria, the Syrian pound continued to fall against the U.S. dollar in the black market, where US$1 equaled more than LS 1,600 in May 2020.

[18] Upon the implementation of the U.S. sanctions related to the Caesar Act, anti-government local authorities in Idlib Governorate adopted the Turkish lira in place of the plummeting Syrian pound.

[20] On 31 December 2022, the Syrian pound hit a new record low again on the black market, where each US$1 cost LS 7,150, twice as much as a year before.

[22] During the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, the exchange rate fell to a record low of LS 25,000 per US$1.

On December 26, 2018, the Central Bank of Syria introduced a LS 50 coin for general circulation to replace the banknote of that denomination.

In 1925, the Banque de Syrie et du Grand-Liban began issuing notes and production of denominations below 25p ceased.

The Banque Centrale de Syrie took over paper money issuance in 1957, issuing the same denominations as the Institut d'Emission.

The reverse of the new LS 1,000 note features an image of a Roman mosaic painting discovered in Deir al-Adas.