Assad blames Syria’s current economic woes on Lebanese banks

(Syrian Presidency Facebook page via AP)

Assad blames Syria’s current economic woes on Lebanese banks

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad said much of his country’s current economic distress is a direct result of the banking crisis in neighboring Lebanon, where many Syrian businessmen have traditionally kept their money. Assad said that between $20 billion and $42 billion held by Syrians are estimated to be tied up in Lebanese banks. He spoke during a tour of a trade fair in Damascus with his wife on Wednesday.

“This number for an economy like Syria is a scary number,” Assad said, according to a recording published by SANA, the state news agency.

Lebanon is experiencing a serious banking crisis, which has led to the introduction of informal capital controls to combat capital flight and prop a flailing local currency. Depositors are unable to make foreign transfers and there is a limit on how much they can withdraw.

Lebanese banks had offered a lifeline to the Syrian economy, which under the Assad family rule faced decades of Western sanctions that often targeted individual businessmen and cut off Syrian banks.

However, Assad did not blame the sanctions for the ongoing crisis as most government officials do. “When the banks in Lebanon closed, we paid the price. This is the essence of the problem,” he said.

Low oil prices and poor access to the Kurdish-held northeast of Syria, where much of the country’s wheat is grown, also played a part, he said.

READ MORE

Inondations en Libye : TotalEnergies mobilisée pour soutenir la population libyenne

Paris, 18 septembre 2023 – Suite aux inondations dévastatrices survenues en Libye la semaine dernière, TotalEnergies a répondu dès les premières heures de la tragédie à l’appel de la compagnie nationale libyenne National Oil Corporation et a mobilisé des moyens logistiques terrestres et aériens pour apporter une aide d'urgence pour les milliers de personnes affectées par la catastrophe dans la région de Derna, à l'est du pays.

A ce jour, TotalEnergies a expédié près de 50 tonnes de produits de première nécessité, notamment des fournitures médicales, des colis alimentaires dont de l’alimentation infantile, des kits d'hygiène, et des lampes solaires. Environ 50 tonnes additionnelles de produits de première nécessité seront envoyées au cours des prochains jours.

Cette opération est menée par une équipe dédiée de TotalEnergies, en coordination avec la National Oil Corporation et le Croissant Rouge, avec acheminement des produits par camion depuis Tripoli et par avion depuis Paris.