Damascus: Syria’s central bank governor, Abdelkader Husriyeh, said on Thursday that the country anticipates its first wire transfer with a US bank “in a matter of weeks,” marking a pivotal milestone in reconnecting Damascus to the global financial system after more than a decade of isolation.
The announcement followed a high level virtual conference convened by Governor Husriyeh on Wednesday, which brought together senior figures from Syrian banks, representatives of major US institutions among them JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and CitiBank and Washington’s Syria envoy, Thomas Barrack. Participants discussed the technical, regulatory and compliance steps required to restore correspondent banking ties severed after the onset of Syria’s civil war in 2011.
This initiative comes on the heels of US President Donald Trump’s May directive lifting all economic sanctions on Syria, a decision subsequently enshrined through executive orders that removed numerous punitive measures. Syrian authorities view this policy shift as essential for enabling the large scale financial flows needed to fund reconstruction projects and rebuild key infrastructure.
Financial analysts say that restoring US banking links would be a watershed moment for Syria’s post war recovery, reducing the economy’s heavy reliance on informal cash channels and lowering transaction costs for imports of machinery and construction materials. Reliable access to international payment systems is also expected to attract foreign investors and spur broader private sector activity.
Broader economic reforms spearheaded by the new central bank leadership aim to reconnect Syria to the SWIFT payments network, seek preliminary talks with the IMF, and propose sovereign sukuk issuance to finance reconstruction. If implemented swiftly, these measures could stabilize the Syrian pound and transform the country’s banking sector into a catalyst for sustained growth rather than a relic of conflict era limitations.