Members of the Syrian government and a delegation from the World Bank discussed in Damascus tools to support Syria’s economic recovery, the Syrian foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Sources told Reuters on Saturday that Syrian officials are planning to attend the annual spring meetings held by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, D.C. this month, which would be the first such visit in at least two decades.
Syria has around $15 million in arrears to the World Bank which must be paid off before the international financial institution can approve grants and provide other forms of assistance.
But Damascus is short of foreign currency and a previous plan to pay off the debts using assets frozen abroad did not materialize, according to two people familiar with the matter.
A technical delegation from the World Bank met with Syria’s Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh on Monday, according to the Syrian state news agency Sana.
The meeting, which was the first public meeting between the Syrian government and the World Bank, included discussions on strengthening financial and economic ties between the two sides.
Bernieh also highlighted the negative effects of the international sanctions imposed on Syria and policies of the former regime on the country’s financial and banking sector.
