Economy

Syria has recently signed a memorandum of understanding on joining China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a long-term, transcontinental infrastructure and investment project that aims to economically integrate countries falling along the ancient Silk Road trade route. Although the agreement is not legally binding, Syria would benefit immensely from its prospective inclusion, as the projects brought about by the initiative would contribute to the country’s post-war reconstruction.

Funding coverage for Syria’s Humanitarian Response Plan in 2021 has reached a historic low, failing to keep pace with the growing number of people classified in need in Syria amid the country’s worsening socioeconomic situation, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’s 2022 Global Humanitarian Overview.

Syria will likely witness exceptional increases in poverty rates and unemployment, revenue losses, persistent fiscal deficit, and double-digit inflation due to damages to physical capital, weak economic performance, a widening trade deficit, capital flight, external displacement, and economic sanctions, according to a recent report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.

The Syrian Cabinet issued an increase in the monthly compensation of wounded veterans of the National Defence Forces, a pro-government paramilitary force, following a recommendation by the joint committee of the government and the Syria Trust for Development, an NGO run by First Lady Asma Al-Assad.

The Australian-Syrian Business Council (ASBC), a business networking organisation that aims to develop economic relations between the two countries, was launched by a group of Australian businessmen of Syrian origin last month. According to the council's president, the ASBC received the required approvals from Australian authorities, which would be a rare move given Australia's opposition to the Syrian government.

The government has increased the salaries of public sector employees, military staff, and retirees for the second time this year as it scales back subsidies and as prices continue to skyrocket. Meanwhile, in northern Syria, amid the collapse of the Turkish lira, the Syrian Interim Government has also increased salaries for select educational workers, while the Syrian Salvation Government has formed a committee to determine a new minimum wage inside areas under its control.

The Syrian Prime Minister has toured several governorates at the head of relatively large delegations to launch a series of projects across the country in the first visit of its kind in many years.

Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham has increased customs duties on goods exchanged through the Al-Ghazawiya crossing, which is shared with the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, leading to a surge in the prices of imported goods, according to several opposition media outlets.

Today, Bunker Holding, the world’s largest bunker company, its subsidiary, Dan-Bunkering, and its CEO, Keld Demant, have been found guilty of selling jet fuel to Russian companies that was then shipped to Syria. The two companies are obliged to pay millions in fines, while Demant has been sentenced to months in prison.

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is drafting a law to establish an independent monetary policy and financial institution, which would be akin to a central bank, in an apparent move to consolidate its autonomy drive. It also recently re-opened a cotton spinning and weaving factory, previously owned by the Syrian government, in a bid to boost self-sufficiency in a key sector of its economy.

The EU has blacklisted three Russian oil and gas companies, as well as two Russian nationals, as part of its wider set of sanctions against the Wagner Group. Wagner is a militia staffed by Russian mercenaries that have been operating in various countries in the Middle East and Africa, where it is believed to be acting on behalf of the Russian government.

According to the annual report of the General Authority of Palestinian Arab Refugees, government spending on refugees last year has increased. However, due to the continued depreciation of the Syrian pound, expenditure has in fact declined significantly in real terms.

A recent report examines the many challenges faced by independent Syrian businessmen who remained in the country following the 2011 conflict, as well as the complications they may face if they choose to leave the country to launch their ventures in one of the few accessible markets in the region. 



Last week, a high-ranking delegation of Iranian ministers, parliamentary officials, and private sector businesspersons met with their Syrian counterparts in yet another attempt to activate past agreements and projects.

Damascus has retained its rank as the cheapest city in the world out of 173 major cities, according to a bi-annual survey published by the Economist Intelligence Unit. As prices generally firmed up elsewhere, they have fallen in Damascus due to the rapid depreciation of the country’s currency.

The opposition-affiliated Syria Recovery Trust Fund, a multi-donor trust fund that finances projects in areas outside government control in Syria, has received a new contribution to fund early recovery projects in northern Syria.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has expanded authorisations for nongovernmental organisations to engage in certain activities and transactions in Syria.

The economic crisis in Northwest Syria has been hit hard by Turkey’s economic crisis, in addition to the chronic crises already afflicting the country. The purchasing power of residents is at its lowest levels, sparking mass protests and prompting the leader of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, Abu Mohammad Al-Jolani, to meet with the Syrian Salvation Government's Shura Council to review the financial and bread crises.

Last month, the Arab Federation of Arab Cities and Industrial Zones, which is affiliated with the Council of Arab Economic Unity, itself one of the organisations of the Arab League, held its first-ever economic conference in Damascus. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates, spearheading Arab rapprochement, has encouraged other countries in the region to follow suit.

The Public Establishment for International Fairs and Exhibitions, the state entity managing the Syrian lottery, plans to print over one million tickets for the New Year’s edition, doubling both the ticket prices and the grand prize.