The new Syrian government has begun in international efforts to reintegrate the country into the global financial system, ensuring support for the country’s economy, and creating the appropriate climate for the reconstruction file.
Syria is seeking to open a discussion line with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to obtain financial grants and technical assistance to Syria.
The IMF and the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development are currently providing grants of hundreds of millions of dollars to improve the electricity network in Syria, support the public sector, and pay the salaries of employees, which represents an important step towards rebuilding the country’s vital infrastructure.
Reuters quoted the Assistant Secretary -General of the United Nations Development Program, Abdullah Al -Dardari, as saying that officials would discuss major steps to support Syria.
In the context, a Syrian official delegation consisting of Foreign Minister Asaad Al -Shaibani, Minister of Finance Muhammad Yar Yarr Burniyah, and the ruler of the Central Bank of Syria Abdel Qader Al -Huzar will attend the World Bank’s meetings and the International Monetary Fund on a first visit to a Syrian delegation to Washington after the fall of the Bashar al -Assad regime.
Complex
Each member state of the International Monetary Fund has private withdrawal rights and is more like shares, which any member can offer for sale to other members with a value agreed upon by the parties.
The process of buying and selling is subject to supply and demand, as some members may seek to increase its influence in the IMF by buying shares, which raises their price, and no one may apply to purchase, so the value of the withdrawal rights decreases.
Syria has a special withdrawal rights of $ 563 million in the IMF as a member state and a contribution, but the use of these rights for sales requires the approval of the Fund members who own 85% of the total votes, led by the United States, Canada, China and the European Union countries, and they are the most prominent members of the fund.
Syrian economist Younis Al -Karim says – in a special statement to Al -Jazeera Net – that Syria will find it difficult to sell its withdrawal rights, due to the international and American sanctions on the Syrian Central Bank, and any member will be subjected to sanctions if he transferred money to Syria without exception or suspension of sanctions.
In order to complete the transfer process, an exceptional decision is necessary to suspend sanctions on the Syrian Central Bank from the US President and the Security Council.
In this context, the cream confirms that it is not possible to transfer withdrawal rights funds through international or private organizations, because these funds are directly related to the Syrian government.
Al -Karim notes that the sale of Syria’s special withdrawal rights deprives it of borrowing from the fund, and will be forced to borrow directly from countries, and the country is also deprived of benefiting from the fund’s programs to combat poverty, hunger and reconstruction in the country.
The Syrian diplomat Bassam Al -Barbandi – the resident of Washington, who is one of the figures working in the file with the IMF – believes that the funds from the fund are not conditional and free and are not related to political complications, but are only stipulated in transparency, and the way to employ these sums in the public interest.
Al -Barbandi notes that the financial grants – which will be provided – fall under the item that Syria is a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and is going through a transitional stage, and it must be supported and supported until it passes this stage and reaches the stage of stability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spncqytq4k0
World Bank
Saudi Arabia has paid off the later debts of the World Bank, which is estimated at $ 15 million, in a move aimed at enabling Syria to resume obtaining international grants and reconstruction aid, especially in light of the economic challenges facing the country after years of war and sanctions.
The World Bank discusses providing financial packages to improve the electricity network in Syria and support the salaries of public sector employees, with the aim of enhancing economic and social stability.
In this context, the cream believes that dealing with the World Bank for Reconstruction and Development is not possible with Syria at the present time for a number of considerations, the most important of which are:
- The American United Nations Sanctions on Syria prevent the entry of investors and any country to Syria, and dealing with the World Bank must be preceded by a suspension of international and American sanctions. In this regard, Al -Karim believes that Al -Shaibani’s visit to New York and the Security Council is to seek to suspend the international sanctions associated with terrorism in Syria.
- Syria’s lack of matching international financial standards: This is what the governor of the Central Bank of Syria spoke about the state’s commitment to international financial standards, expressing Syria’s desire to integrate into the international financial system, and pointed out that the sanctions imposed on Syria are still a major obstacle to the progress of the economy.
- The central bank ruler stressed that Syria is seeking to be part of the global financial system, and hopes that the international community will help it to remove obstacles that prevent this goal.
- The instability of the Syrian state institutions in a way that enables them to deal with the World Bank.
On the other hand, Al -Barbandi confirms that Saudi Arabia’s push for Syrian debt to the International Monetary Fund opens the door for Syria to take advantage of the funding provided by the International Development Corporation, which provides grants and soft loans to low -income countries.
Al -Barbandi says that the money that the World Bank will give to Syria is designated for rebuilding the electricity network, and indicates an American study that reached a solution to the electricity problem in Syria by reforming the high pressure networks extending with Jordan, which the cost of its reform was estimated at about 300 million dollars, and by linking the network with Jordan, Syria will be fed with the necessary electricity enough throughout the day.
Al -Barbandi confirms that the option of linking with Jordan is better for the current period to secure electricity instead of waiting for funding of billions of dollars to rebuild the electricity transformers that can be worked on at a later time.
International contributions
The generous believes that the IMF may provide a short -term financial assertion to support stability in Syria, and it is expected that the contribution between one billion and two billion dollars will reach, which represents half of the Syrian budget, which gives the current government relatively stability, and it is possible that these packages will support both Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the European Union countries.
The cream questions the ability of the Syrian institutions to deal with the fund, which is permanently required as a luxury and audit of all payments, and the fund usually provides financial packages in a gradual way, so that it is confirmed that the funds are spent according to the agreed plan.
He believes that the World Bank may have plans to achieve limited achievements in the file of the reconstruction of Syria, by benefiting from (license 24), which allows companies to deal with the Syrian government in the electricity, health and humanitarian services sector.
He adds that the development of basic services in Syria achieves a kind of internal stability, and prevents the country from slipping into a repeat of the scenarios of the continuation of violence, which does not want to happen in Syria, regional and international countries.
Vocabulary exceptions
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) announced the signing of an agreement worth $ 2.9 million with 4 Syrian banks, with the aim of implementing a subsidized interest rate project, and aims to enable more than 1,600 beneficiaries to reach financing.
The program stated that the agreement comes within the framework of a vision to enhance comprehensive economic growth, and an affirmation of the program’s commitment to expanding financial inclusion and facilitate access to credit to improve livelihoods in Syria.
The four Syrian banks are the “Creativity Bank”, “First Bank for Microfinance”, “Saudi Pimo Bank”, and “National Bank of Finance”.
In a related context, the United Nations Development Program announced the allocation of $ 50 million financing to repair the Deir Ali Electricity Station located south of Damascus, and this project is a vital step towards improving the electrical infrastructure in Syria.
The program obtained a special exemption from the US Treasury to collect the necessary funding, allowing the implementation of the project without violating the sanctions imposed on Syria.
A decisive Syrian visit
The participation of the ministers of finance and foreign affairs and the ruler of the Syrian Bank in the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington is the first on this level for more than two decades, and indicates the desire of the new Syrian government to rebuild international economic relations.
Al -Barbandi notes – in a statement to Al -Jazeera Net – that every state of the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have the right to attend periodic meetings, and indicated that the ousted regime was attending most of these meetings.
Muhammad al -Ghanem – one of the founders of the Syrian lobby in the United States – says that the visit of the Syrian Foreign Minister to New York is an important opportunity for diplomatic dialogue, noting that the presence of Syria’s social Monetary Fund and the World Bank is necessary for reconstruction.
The Karim puts an important point about the Syrian delegation’s visit to America, as it sends a message showing that the government’s focus focuses on meeting urgent financing needs, which may be understood as an indication of developing a crisis without an integrated strategic vision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1y53z-7qvk
Positive indicators
The American exceptions granted to the United Nations Development Programs suggest that they support the Syrian economy and the reconstruction of certain limits indirectly.
The Barbandy diplomat says that the United States is still not recognized by the new Syrian government, and stipulated that the sanctions be lifted a number of conditions and demands, but it does not want to appear in front of the Syrian people as the reason for its suffering.
The recent American exceptions granted to Syria may pave the way for positive results at the country’s economy, including:
- Raising the productive capacity of electricity, and increasing the number of hours it provides, and Al -Barbandi confirms that the support that will be provided to Syria will contribute to moving the wheel of the economy, and improving the services provided to the citizen, especially at the level of improvement of the availability of electricity.
- Encouraging international companies to invest in the electricity sector in Syria. Although Washington issues the license 24, which allows companies to deal with Syria in the electricity sector, there is an apprehension and fear of falling under the weight of US sanctions, in addition to the inability of the Syrian state to finance projects.
- The rotation of the economic wheel, even with certain limits, to provide electricity more than before, and the United Nations financing some economic projects.
