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The International Monetary Fund had said it visited Syria for the archetypal clip since 2009 arsenic the state scrambles to rebuild aft implicit a decennary of conflict
DAMASCUS, Syria -- DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria volition request “substantial international" enactment for its efforts to rehabilitate the economy, conscionable urgent humanitarian needs, and rebuild indispensable institutions and infrastructure, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.
Syria cannot spend hundreds of billions of dollars of damages and losses from the conflict that archetypal started arsenic protests successful 2011 against erstwhile President Bashar Assad 's totalitarian government.
Since existent President Ahmad al-Sharaa led an insurgency that ousted the Assad dynasty successful December 2024, countries person gradually restored ties with Syria.
During a five-day sojourn by the IMF successful aboriginal June — the archetypal to Syria by the 191-country lending enactment since 2009 — its squad met with officials from the nationalist and backstage sectors, notably the concern curate and cardinal slope governor.
“Syria faces tremendous challenges pursuing years of struggle that caused immense quality suffering and reduced its system to a fraction of its erstwhile size,” the IMF said. “While the years of struggle and displacement person weakened administrative capacity, unit astatine the concern ministry and cardinal slope demonstrated beardown committedness and coagulated understanding.”
Some 6 cardinal people fled Syria during the conflict, and the United Nations estimates that 90% of those who stayed lived successful poorness and relied connected humanitarian assistance to survive. Half a cardinal radical were killed successful the conflict.
Damascus present anticipates investments and concern projects with Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and others, arsenic they reestablish formation paths and clasp high-level governmental and economical meetings.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that Washington volition assistance decades-long sanctions against Syria, but it is unclear however agelong that process could take. Britain and the European Union had eased immoderate restrictions.
Meanwhile, oil-rich nations Saudi Arabia and Qatar paid disconnected Syria’s debt to the World Bank, valued astatine adjacent $15 billion.
The IMF said it is processing a roadmap for Syria's argumentation and capableness gathering priorities for cardinal economical institutions, including the concern ministry, cardinal bank, and statistic agency.
But Syria has a laundry database of reforms it indispensable undertake, including improving its taxation postulation system, making definite its nationalist fund tin wage nationalist assemblage salaries and basal healthcare and education, empowering the cardinal slope to instrumentality measures to bring backmost assurance to the section currency, and rehabilitate its outdated and battered banking strategy successful enactment with planetary standards.
In 2017, the United Nations estimated that rebuilding Syria would outgo astir $250 billion. Since Assad was overthrown, immoderate experts accidental that fig could beryllium arsenic precocious arsenic $400 billion.
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