Saudi Arabia and Qatar have announced that they will pay Syria’s $15 million debt to the World Bank, potentially unlocking millions of dollars in aid and giving a boost to the new government’s task of rebuilding an economy shattered by civil war.
The joint payment will enable the World Bank to resume its support and activities in Syria after an interruption of more than 14 years. It will also allow the new Syrian government to gain access to funds and technical support to rebuild institutions and try to speed up development, Qatar and Saudi Arabia said in a joint statement.
The Syrian government in Damascus, the capital, expressed its “deep gratitude” for the move. “It also opens the door to activating cooperation with international institutions to serve the issues of recovery and reconstruction,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The government in Syria still faces major hurdles in trying to rebuild the country after the nearly 14-year war that led to the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December. The conflict has taken a huge toll on the economy, with industries decimated and infrastructure destroyed. More than 90 percent of Syrians live in poverty, and one in four is unemployed, according to the United Nations. The value of the currency has plummeted: from 50 Syrian pounds to the U.S. dollar before the war, to about 15,000 when the Assad regime was overthrown.
The situation has not improved significantly. The country’s new rulers, led by the rebel groups which toppled Mr. al-Assad, have instituted policies that have left Syrians in even more economic pain. Long lines regularly form at banks as people try to withdraw money from their accounts, hundreds of civil servants have been dismissed and some public subsidies have been eliminated.
Early hopes that the Western sanctions imposed on Syria to punish the Assad regime would be lifted quickly have been dashed. Some governments, including those of the European Union and of Britain, have eased sanctions, and the United States has issued a general license, allowing for some exemptions of American restrictions for six months.