The stunning and rapid depreciation of the Syrian pound has wreaked havoc on the Syrian street especially by the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, which, according to many Syrians, needs special budget.

The local currency is depreciating every hour against the dollar and the pound, which was sold a few days ago at 170 Syrian pounds per US dollar, is now traded at 325 Syrian pounds in the black market. Gold prices also rose hysterically with up to 1,200 Syrian pounds in a single day.

The Syrian pound's devaluation has had a big impact on the prices of all commodities in the market, which hiked to an unprecedented level in the country since the start of the crisis in mid-March 2011.

The soaring prices and high living costs prompted many business owners in the country to raise the salaries of their workers and to cope with a parallel measure taken lately by the government to raise the salaries of government employees and military personnel and retirees by up to 40 percent.

However, the salary increase is still away from matching the skyrocketing prices of all commodities, as such prices change every single hour, overburdening ordinary Syrian citizens who bear the brunt of a crisis that grinds on with no looming solution in the horizon.

Calls on the social media websites have dramatically increased urging the governor of the Central Bank of Syria, Adib Mayaleh, and Syria's number one economist, Qadri Jamil, who hold the post of Syrian deputy premier for economic affairs and the minister of domestic trade and consumer protection, to live up to their repetitive promises that the Syrian pound would not collapse and will return to the levels of 100 Syrian pounds per dollar.

Some people have even called on both officials to step down and blame the current currency's dive on their wrong policies.

The Syrian Days website said that Mayaleh would hold a meeting on Wednesday with exchange dealers to sell 50 million Euros to cover the market's needs of hard currency, noting that the step comes in the context of the government's measures to handle the " fake" turbulences in the price of the Syrian pound owing to speculations.

Yet, it's still unclear whether this new measure will help scale down the soaring prices and appease the people's concerns especially as most merchants have hidden their products as a precautionary and prior step to further raise prices.

Even gold dealers have shut down their shops and went home to avoid any unexpected loss. Products and some foodstuff have started disappearing from the market and those that are still seen on shelves are sold at very high prices capitalizing on the people 's need to shop for Ramadan that will start on Wednesday.

"I have been looking for cow milk for more than two hours but alas I didn't find any," complained Hana, a housewife, adding that "You know milk is a staple in Ramadan but it seems that they hide it to raise its price."

"It's not milk alone that has disappeared... A lot of goods have vanished and those who are still displayed for sale are very expensive," concurred another woman, who was standing next to her at the supermarket.

A few Syrians, who are still maintaining a proper standard of living at these crucial times, have hurried up to buy as many goods as they can afford out of fears that prices will increase the next day.

Syrians' concerns have remarkably risen with the non-stop decrease in the pound's value amid prospects that the exchange rate of the dollar will reach 500 pounds soon.