UN Official: IMF and World Bank to Discuss Resuming Support for Syria Next Week
NEW YORK (SANA) – UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Deputy Administrator Abdullah Al-Dardari announced that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank plan to discuss the resumption of support for Syria during a meeting scheduled for next week.
In a statement to Reuters, Al-Dardari said: “Next week, a meeting on Syria will be held in Washington as part of the annual meetings of international financial institutions, with the participation of Saudi Arabia and the World Bank. Despite sanctions, which remain the biggest obstacle to the country’s reconstruction, officials will discuss key steps to resume World Bank and IMF support for Syria.”
Al-Dardari also referred to reports that Saudi Arabia intends to repay Syria’s approximately $15 million debt to the World Bank, emphasizing that settling these debts would allow the World Bank to support Syria through the International Development Association (IDA), which provides funds to low-income countries.
He further noted that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had obtained a sanctions waiver from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to raise up to $50 million for the repair of the Deir Ali power station, located south of Damascus.