The Syrian pound has begun to recover against the dollar after president Bashar al-Assad's ouster, moneychangers and traders said Monday as foreign currencies again became available on the local market.

On December 7 -- the day before Damascus fell to a rebel coalition led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group -- the rate had plunged to 30,000 pounds to the dollar, halving the value of the local currency compared to just months previously.