The gap between the official rate and the street
The Central Bank publishes one rate. People trade at another. This is the distance between them, every day for the last six months.
The gap over time
150 days where both sources publishedThe dashed line is the average for the period.
Why are there two rates?
The Central Bank of Syria sets an official reference rate, and banks and government transactions use it. Almost everything else — remittances, imports, the exchange office on the corner — settles at the market rate, which is set by supply and demand. When the two drift apart, the official number stops describing what a dollar actually costs.
What the gap tells you
A narrow gap means the official rate is close to reality. A widening gap usually means pressure: hard currency getting scarcer, confidence falling, or a policy change the official rate has not caught up with yet. It is the single number that says most about the pound, and it cannot be read from either rate alone.
How this is measured
Both sources publish several times a day, so each is reduced to its last observation of each UTC day and the two are matched by date. Days where either side did not publish are left out rather than filled in, so a flat stretch means the gap held — not that a source went quiet. Figures are the sell rate.