The Minister of Finance in the Syrian caretaker government, Muhammad Abu Zaid, accused the regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad of “corruption and nepotism” in appointing employees, stressing that “some of them were registered on paper only to receive a salary without working,” and that there are more than 300 thousand employees whose names will be deleted.
The minister added in an interview with Al Jazeera that the new government is seeking functional restructuring to address sagging in government institutions, explaining that there are no real numbers for employees, and that reality indicates that there are about 900,000 actual employees out of 1,250,000 in the records of the previous regime.
Abu Zaid explained that the government began increasing salaries by 400% to improve the conditions of employees, noting that the average salaries during the era of the ousted regime in Syria did not exceed $25 per person, which made The majority of the Syrian people are below the poverty line.
Abazid: More than 300,000 employees registered on paper only to receive salary without working will be written off
Huge debts and empty coffers
Regarding Syria’s foreign debts, the Minister of Finance said that they ranged between 20 and 23 billion dollars, in addition to “billions of domestic debts,” noting that the ousted regime did not have any records that could be returned. To her, as he put it.
Abu Zaid stressed that the government “does not have a magic wand to solve Syria’s economic problems,” and said that they inherited a public sector, 70% of which are loss-making companies, and that they are reconsidering these companies, as Those that are not economically viable will be closed or privatized.
Abu Zeid indicated that lifting economic sanctions and unfreezing funds abroad will contribute to reviving the Syrian economy, estimating the value of Syrian funds frozen abroad at between 300 and 400 million dollars.
Regarding investments, the minister said that Syria “has turned a new page” and will seek to attract investments from Arab countries and encourage Syrian businessmen abroad to return and invest in the country.
Minister of Finance: The value of Syrian funds frozen abroad ranges between 300 and 400 million dollars
Reform measures in the health sector
In a related context, the designated Minister of Health in the Syrian caretaker government, Maher Al-Sharaa, previously stated to Al Jazeera that the health sector is affected by Western sanctions imposed on the country, and he pledged to develop within a few months.
Al-Sharaa explained that the ministry received promises to partially lift the ban on the capabilities of the health sector, pledging at the same time to create infrastructure within 3 months on which the sector depends.
He stressed that the Ministry of Health will work to benefit from Syrian competencies abroad, noting in this context that the Ministry is communicating with Syrian medical competencies who are ready to return to the country.
Regarding the most prominent challenges ahead, Al-Sharaa said that the ministry has 82,000 employees and needs a much smaller number. He revealed that the health sector is burdened with problems, the most prominent of which is administrative corruption.
The minister had announced an expected increase in salaries by 400% for workers in the health sector, starting this month or next month.
Economic background
The Syrian economy was devastated after a war that lasted more than 10 years and sanctions that left it isolated from the global financial system.
The World Bank quoted official Syrian data, in the spring of 2024, that the economy shrank by more than half during the period between 2010 and 2021.
The bank’s calculations indicated a sharp contraction of 84% between 2010 and 2023, and the World Bank reclassified Syria as a low-income country in 2018.
United Nations agencies say that more than 90% of the 25 million Syrians live below the poverty line.
