The Syrian Minister of Finance Mohammad al Aljalilati, estimated the reserves of foreign currencies with the exception of gold at about US$ 18 billion. According to him, this covers the need for Syrian imports for more than 20 months. Aljalilati said Wednesday that the debt ofSyriais one of the lowest in the world. Aljalilati expressed his hope to see the return of Syrian funds abroad to the local economy. He estimated these funds at approximately US$ 80 billion. According to hi, this will be the preferred option “instead of facing the effects of debt burdens and conditions of debtors.”
He explained that the government preferred not to issue treasury bonds this year, so it will not have to carry an additional budget deficit, because it will pay interest on their loans by about 9%. Note that the estimated deficit in the budget of this year is up to about 167 billion pounds (U.S.dollar equals 48.5 pounds). The Syrian minister pointed out that the state supports the prices of oil products and electricity up to 250 billion pounds per year, expressing his regret for what he called “widespread corruption in all sectors of the state.”
On his part, the Dean of the Planning Institute in Damascus Adel Qdmana estimated the extent of the damages as a result of the recent violent events inSyria, at about 13 billion pounds, including 3 billion pounds of enterprises owned by individuals, and 10 billion pounds damage to government institutions.
Aljalilati admitted that the events taking place inSyrialed to a slowdown in demand for materials and products and contributed to the decline in revenues of local factories. He believed that in the event of continued protests inSyriathis will affect the low income earners and will lead to the escape of capital owners from investing in the domestic market. He pointed out that oil refineries Syrian provide 80 % of the country’s needs.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government decided to reduce some tariffs between 2 and 3% on a number of raw materials and semi-finished iron and steel and jute yarn products. Aljalilati explained that this procedure ensures secure supplies of industrial products for the local market. (Source: www.yallafinance.com)
