Sources say Saudi Arabia plans to pay off Syria’s World Bank debts

Country is $15m in arrears to bank

Payment would unfreeze grants

First Saudi aid since Assad’s overthrow

Saudi Arabia plans to pay off Syria’s debts to the World Bank, sources have told Reuters, paving the way for the approval of millions of dollars in grants for reconstruction and to support the country’s paralysed public sector.

The plans were revealed by “three people familiar with the matter”, Reuters said.

It would be the first known instance of Saudi Arabia providing financing for Syria since Islamist-led rebels toppled the country’s former leader, Bashar al-Assad, last year.

It may also be a sign that crucial Gulf Arab support for Syria is beginning to materialise after previous plans, including an initiative by the government of Qatar to fund salaries, were held up by uncertainty over US sanctions.

Last month, Qatar announced a plan to provide Syria with gas via Jordan to improve the nation’s meagre electricity supply, a move that sources told Reuters had Washington’s nod of approval.

A spokesperson for the Saudi Ministry of Finance told Reuters: “We do not comment on speculation, but make announcements, if and when they become official.”

The Saudi government’s media office, a World Bank spokesperson and a Syrian government official did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Syria is 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 materialise, according to two people familiar with the matter.

World Bank officials have discussed providing financing to help reconstruct the country’s power grid, heavily damaged by years of war, and also to support public sector pay, two of the sources said.

Last month the US gave Syria a list of conditions to fulfil in exchange for partial sanctions relief, but the administration of President Donald Trump has otherwise engaged little with the country’s new rulers.

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