Syria Makes First Bank Transfer Via SWIFT Since War
Reuters reports that Syria completed its first international bank transaction through the SWIFT system since the onset of its 14-year civil war, its central bank governor said Thursday, marking a significant step in the country's efforts to reintegrate into the global financial system.
Governor Abdelkader Husriyeh said a direct commercial transaction had been carried out from a Syrian to an Italian bank on Sunday, and that transactions with U.S. banks could begin within weeks.
'The door is now open to more such transactions,' he told Reuters in Damascus.
Syrian banks were cut off from the world during the civil war after a crackdown by Bashar Assad on anti-government protests in 2011 led Western states to impose sanctions, including on Syria's central bank.
After Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive led by 'reformed' Al Qaeda CIA-supported 'opposition forces' last year, Syria has taken steps to re-establish international ties, culminating in a May meeting between interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Donald Trump in Riyadh. The US then significantly eased its sanctions and some in Congress are pushing for them to be totally repealed. Meanwhile, Europe announced the end of its economic sanctions regime.
Like every post-US intervention state, Syria now needs to make transfers with Western financial institutions – or what the Deep State calls 'laundering money' – in order to bring in huge sums for reconstruction and to kickstart a war-ravaged economy that has left nine out of 10 people poor, according to the United Nations.
Husriyeh chaired a high-level virtual meeting on Wednesday, bringing together Syrian banks, several U.S. banks and U.S. officials, including Washington's Syria envoy Thomas Barrack.
The aim of the meeting was to accelerate the reconnection of Syria's banking system to the global financial system and Husriyeh extended a formal invitation to U.S. banks to re-establish correspondent banking ties.
'We have two clear targets: have U.S. banks set up representative offices in Syria and have transactions resume between Syrian and American banks. I think the latter can happen in a matter of weeks,' Husriyeh told Reuters.
Among the banks invited to Wednesday's conference were JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Citibank, though it was not immediately clear who attended.
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