Syria devalued its national currency on Monday, the second time in less than four months. In a statement, the Central Bank lowered the official exchange rate to 4.522 Syrian pounds against the U.S. dollar.

Previously, the official rate had been set at 3.015 pounds. The dollar is traded on the black market for around 6,500 pounds.

Monday's devaluation was the second in less than four months after the Central Bank weakened the national currency from 2,814 pounds to 3,015 pounds against the dollar in September.

Foreign currency wealth has been declining in the Syrian market for over 10 years when traders and citizens preferred the dollar to the local currency to protect their savings from falling exchange rates.

The latest decision came as the Syrian currency has continued to crash in the war-torn country, plunging more Syrians into poverty.

Syria has been wracked by civil war since early 2011 when Bashar Assad's regime cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and over 10 million displaced, according to estimates from the U.N.

Meanwhile, the currency has been hit hard by war, corruption, Western sanctions and financial and economic collapse in neighboring Lebanon.

Several regions in the north have previously switched to using the Turkish lira last year amid the uncontrolled devaluation of the Syrian pound and huge hikes in the prices of goods and commodities.

Turkish lira notes were already in circulation in some areas of northern Syria, which had been liberated from terrorist organizations by the Turkish military and Syrian opposition groups.