Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa appointed Abdelkader Husrieh as the country’s new central bank governor, according to a statement by the president’s office, weeks after his predecessor tendered her resignation to allow for a new appointee.
Husrieh, who was previously a partner with international accounting firm EY in Syria, was sworn in by Sharaa.
Husrieh’s appointment comes few weeks after Syrian central bank governor Maysaa Sabreen tendered her resignation less than three months after she was appointed to the post in a caretaker role.
Sabreen told Reuters at the time that she resigned because the country’s new rulers would appoint a new governor after the formation of a new government, which was announced in late March.
She had pledged during her short-lived tenure to boost the bank’s independence after years of corrupt state control.
Economists view central bank independence as critical to achieving long-term macroeconomic and financial sector stability.
While the Central Bank of Syria has always been, on paper, an independent institution, but under Bashar-al-Assad, whose regime was toppled in a lighting offensive in December, the bank’s policy was de facto determined by the government.
