Will Financial Crisis Affect Syria?

Syrian officials have insisted the country’s economy will be immune from the financial meltdown affecting the rests of the world, according to press reports this week.



The deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Abdullah al-Dardari, said in a parliament hearing on October 7 that Syria’s economy would not be affected by the international crisis. He said the national currency was strong and the banking system was sound with growing numbers of deposits.



In a statement published on September 22, Finance Minister Muhammad Al-Husain said Syria would be less affected by the financial crisis than other Arab countries because the government controlled the degree of exposure to international financial systems, and also because of recent economic reforms.



But a senior official at the Syrian Trade Bank, Dured Durgham, told the state-run daily Tishreen on October 8 that the crisis would have a profound impact on the economy, curbing trade and reducing the amount of money that emigrants send home. He warned of risks to domestic manufacturing, to the value of the lira, and even to the government’s capacity to pay domestic and foreign debt.