📰 Husrieh: Agreement on Syria’s accession to the “Buna” platform

syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria’s Central Bank (CBS) Governor, Abdulkader Husrieh, declared Syria’s agreement to join the advanced regional cross-border payment system (Buna platform), established by the Arab Monetary Fund. The agreement, was reached during a meeting, alongside Finance minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh ,with Arab Monetary Fund leader Fahad al-Turki, held on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington. The parties discussed potential technical backing and capacity-building opportunities that the Fund could offer Syria in the coming period, Husrieh explained in a Facebook post.

Husrieh affirmed that this step will enable financial institutions in Syria to send and receive payments in Arab and international currencies with greater efficiency, speed, and lower costs, contributing to improved customer experience and enhanced payment services, including instant payments. The Governor expressed gratitude to the Arab Monetary Fund for its persisted backing and constructive cooperation, stressing the importance of strengthening the partnership in future steps that align with Syria’s aspirations to build a modern, integrated, and efficient financial system that meets national economic needs and harmonizes with regional and global transformations. The Buna platform is a centralized, multi-currency regional system that allows financial institutions, including central and commercial banks—to execute cross-border payments within the Arab region and beyond using Arab and significant global currencies.

The Arab Monetary Fund launched this platform to provide clearing and settlement services for eligible payments, whether between Arab countries or with their global trading partners.