{"id":236790,"date":"2026-08-05T11:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T11:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/236790\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T11:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T11:28:14","slug":"imf-and-world-bank-endorse-syrias-fiscal-reforms-as-recovery-gathers-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/236790\/","title":{"rendered":"IMF and World Bank endorse Syria\u2019s fiscal reforms as recovery gathers pace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Syria\u2019s post-Assad turnaround gets brownie points from IMF + World Bank: The IMF wrapped a staff visit to Damascus with an upbeat read, according to a statement yesterday<\/a>, while the World Bank signed off<\/a> on Syria\u2019s 2026 reforms and is raising its grant allocations for 2027, Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh said.<\/p>\n

The growth call is striking: The IMF expects Syria\u2019s economy to expand at double digits this year, even with the ongoing regional conflict, with strong growth continuing into 2027. The growth is expected to be driven by agriculture rebounding, expanding hydrocarbon production and electricity provision, and growing trade and services. That\u2019s all set to be lifted by the return of refugees and diaspora Syrians, a rise in visitors, and higher government spending.<\/p>\n

(Cautious) optimism: Growth is uneven across regions, poverty remains widespread albeit reduced, and inflation \u2014 which had slowed to low double digits in 2025 \u2014 has picked up considerably in 2026 on higher fuel and food import prices, strong domestic demand from public sector wage hikes, and rising utility and housing costs. The IMF expects inflation to ease in 2027 only if import pressures fade and policy stays disciplined.<\/p>\n

The fiscal picture is the clearest bright spot: The central government closed 2025 with a small surplus, and revenues are set to rise substantially in 2026 on higher tax and customs receipts, rising hydrocarbon income, and one-off items like telecom license and fuel-transit fees.<\/p>\n

That fiscal credibility is what the World Bank is rewarding: The lender\u2019s review of Syria\u2019s Performance and Policy Actions under the IDA\u2019s Sustainable Development Finance Policy confirmed satisfactory progress on debt sustainability, management, and transparency, triggering an incentive allocation and bigger IDA grants for FY 2027. This follows earlier World Bank projects including a USD 146 mn electricity grid reform and a USD 20 mn public financial management program.<\/p>\n

The glaring weak spot: Syria\u2019s banks<\/a>. The Central Bank of Syria introduced its new currency at the start of the year<\/a>, but monetary policy is \u201cseverely constrained by a highly dysfunctional banking system\u201d and a lack of policy tools, the IMF said. The fund\u2019s priorities include new central bank and banking laws, a thorough health check of the banks, and a strong AML\/CFT framework to get Syria off FATF\u2019s gray list.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Syria\u2019s post-Assad turnaround gets brownie points from IMF + World Bank: The IMF wrapped a staff visit to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[30],"tags":[19355,147,21299,95,8494],"class_list":["post-236790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-syria","tag-banking","tag-economy","tag-imf","tag-syria","tag-world-bank"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117042669305916372","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}