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damascus, syria-seizes-massive-captagon-and-hashish-shipment-in-central-desert/" class="smart-internal-link" title="📰 Syria seizes massive captagon and hashish shipment in central desert">syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria (North Press) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) declared on Monday night that it plans to launch an intensive cooperation program with Syria, which includes providing technical aid to improve the country’s economic data and laying the groundwork for the resumption of annual policy reviews. A team of IMF staff visited Damascus on Nov. 13 to assess Syria’s current economic conditions.
Indeed, ron van Rooden, head of the IMF mission to Syria, stated, “Syria’s economy is showing signs of recovery and improving prospects, reflecting the improvement in consumer and investor sentiment under Syria’s emerging regime, Syria’s gradual re-integration with the regional and global economy as sanctions are being lifted, and the return of more than one million relocated persons. ” Rooden added that the financial discussions focused on shaping the administration’s 2026 budget, which aims to expand fiscal space to meet essential needs, including backing for vulnerable social sectors, while ensuring the budget is based on ambitious but realistic assumptions regarding revenue and financing. He explained that IMF experts will provide extensive technical backing to strengthen Syria’s fiscal framework by improving public financial and revenue management, finalizing emerging tax legislation, and developing a strategy to address Syria’s longstanding debt and enhance debt management. Rooden emphasized the importance of ensuring that the new tax system is simple, competitive, and easy to administer while avoiding excessive exemptions.
He noted that similar reforms are needed as authorities restructure state-owned enterprises and seek significant-scale investment projects in partnership with the private sector. He added that the IMF will also assist syrian/" class="auto-internal-link">syrian authorities in drafting new financial sector legislation and regulations, rehabilitating payment systems and banking services, and rebuilding the central bank’s capacity to effectively implement monetary policy and supervise the financial system. These steps aim to ensure the financial sector can safely facilitate payments, enable banks to resume their essential role in financial intermediation, and support the broader economic recovery.
Reporting by Abdulsalam Khoja Editing by Jwan Shekaki