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Syria has completed its first international bank transfer via the SWIFT payment system since the outbreak of its 14-year civil war: a significant milestone as the war-damaged country reintegrates into the global financial system.
The SWIFT network, operated by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, facilitates secure messaging between financial institutions globally.
Abdelkader Husriyeh, governor of Syria’s central bank, told Reuters that a direct commercial transaction was executed from a Syrian bank to an Italian lender on Sunday. The transfer represents the first such cross-border payment since Western sanctions effectively severed Syria’s banking system from international networks following the 2011 crackdown on anti-government protests.
“The door is now open to more such transactions,” Husriyeh said from Damascus yesterday, on Thursday 19 June, adding that transactions with US banks could commence within weeks.
The breakthrough comes after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive by opposition forces last year, which has prompted a dramatic shift in Syria’s international relations. The interim government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has moved swiftly to re-establish diplomatic and economic ties with Western nations.
In May, when al-Sharaa met US President Donald Trump in Riyadh, it led to a significant easing of American sanctions. The US subsequently permitted new investments, private sector engagement, and transactions with Syria’s new government, including allowing American banks to deal with the Commercial Bank of Syria. The European Union (EU) has similarly lifted most economic sanctions on the country.
Husriyeh chaired a high-level virtual meeting on Wednesday that brought together Syrian banks, several US financial institutions, and American officials, including Washington’s Syria envoy Thomas Barrack. The session aimed to accelerate the reconnection of Syria’s banking system to global networks, banks invited included JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Citibank, though it remains unclear which institutions attended.
Piecing itself together
Syria faces an enormous reconstruction challenge after a conflict that devastated its economy:
- The reconstruction bill is estimated to be between $250 billion and $400 billion.
- The Syrian economy contracted by half between 2010 and 2021.
- More than 90% of Syria’s 23 million citizens live below the poverty line.
- Although the Syrian pound has recently strengthened to between 9,000 and 9,500 against the US dollar from 12,600, it remains a fraction of its pre-war value of 47 to the dollar.
The easing of sanctions has also had an impact on investment, from cultural ventures to a $200 million waste-sorting facility planned for Damascus.
