As Syria looks to rebuild, Finance Minister sees trade boost from forex deposits

Record ID: 1145254

  • Title: As Syria looks to rebuild, Finance Minister sees trade boost from forex deposits
  • Date: 16th August 2018
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (AUGUST 15, 2018) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF SYRIA'S CENTRAL BANK MAMOUN HAMDAN, SYRIAN FINANCE MINISTER, ARRIVING AT HIS OFFICE HAMDAN SPEAKING DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SYRIAN FINANCE MINISTER, MAMOUN HAMDAN, SAYING: "It has no relation to reserves. This will contribute in enabling the Central Bank to finance foreign credit line operations
  • Embargoed: 30th August 2018 16:02
  • Keywords: Central Bank of Syria Syrian finance minister Mamoun Hamdan forign currency deposits
  • Location: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
  • City: DAMASCUS, SYRIA
  • Country: Syria
  • Topics: Budget/Taxation/Revenue,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0018TFSXMV
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Syria will use new foreign currency certificates of deposit to help fund trade operations, its finance minister said, as the government takes tentative steps towards reconstruction following seven years of war.
    Authorities in Damascus allowed the central bank this month to begin issuing the certificates. Mamoun Hamdan, in an interview with Reuters, said economic activity had picked up significantly since Russia entered the war on the government side in 2015, but did not put a figure on the increase.
    A report by the U.N.'s Arab countries agency ESCWA cited experts as saying the volume of destruction of Syria's physical capital and its sectoral distribution exceeded $388 billion.
    While Assad's allies Russia and Iran have invested in Syria, United States and European Union sanctions - which bar all dealings with the government and numerous individuals and companies - have kept most Western companies out.
    Calling the sanctions "unilateral and unjust", Hamdan said they penalised the Syrian people just as much as its government and army.
    The U.S. already had sanctions in place on Syria but has ramped them up during the war alongside the EU, accusing the government of human rights violations, which it denies.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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