Washington, April 15 (SANA) A high-level Syrian economic and financial delegation held talks with U.S. Treasury officials in Washington on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, focusing on ways to support economic recovery in Syria and reintegrate the country into the global financial system.
The delegation, headed by Central Bank of Syria Governor Abdulkader Husrieh and Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh, met with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Africa and the Middle East, Eric Meyer. The talks also included Yousef al-Fares, head of the Multilateral Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Discussions focused on cooperation to build transparent and flexible financial and economic institutions in Syria, as well as priorities for technical assistance, including banking sector reform, modernization of payment systems, and strengthening anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) frameworks. Public finance management and debt management were also addressed.
Both sides explored the possibility of technical assistance missions, in coordination with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance, aimed at strengthening institutional capacity in areas such as financial services modernization, payment systems infrastructure, domestic resource mobilization, budget preparation, financial accountability, and infrastructure financing.
Officials said these efforts are intended to strengthen regulatory and institutional frameworks, restore key functions of the financial sector, and rebuild institutional capacity.
The Syrian delegation reaffirmed its commitment to advancing reforms to enhance financial integrity and transparency and support sustainable economic growth.
At the conclusion of the meeting, both sides expressed appreciation for the discussions and emphasized the importance of continued coordination through follow-up meetings and the implementation of agreed technical initiatives.
M.F/ ABD
