A recently published economic report by the Syrian Ministry of Economy and Foreign Commerce revealed that the value of customer deposits at local banks grew by 15 percent in 2000 compared with 1999.
The report also showed that the Commercial Bank of Syria controlled a major portion of these customer deposits, according to London based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily. This upward trend is mirrored by the rise in public spending in Syria during the same period; between 1999 and 2000, spending increased by 19 percent.
Furthermore, the report cited that the value of loans by the local banking sector to the private sector amounted to 234.9 billion Syrian pounds ($4.4 billion) in 1995, SP 328 billion in 1999, and SP 331.1 billion in the first half of 2000.
On the other hand, the value of the local banking sector’s lending to the local public sector amounted to SP 71.5 billion in the first half of 2000.
In addition, treasury returns from these local investments rose from SP 47.6 billion in 1999 to SP 71.5 billion in 2000. External returns also grew during the same period, from SP 17.4 billion to SP 19.4 billion. –(MENA Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
