JEDDAH: Syria’s economic recovery is gaining momentum as reforms advance and confidence improves, the International Monetary Fund said, while urging authorities to sustain progress through continued fiscal, banking, and structural reforms.
The assessment followed a July 19-23 visit to Damascus by an IMF staff team led by Ron van Rooden, the fund's mission chief for Syria, to review progress on reforms and discuss priorities for further technical assistance.
Syria’s economic recovery follows more than a decade of conflict, with a World Bank assessment estimating reconstruction needs at $216 billion, including $108 billion in direct physical damage to infrastructure, residential buildings and non-residential structures.
The report also found that Syria’s real gross domestic product contracted by nearly 53 percent between 2010 and 2022, underscoring the scale of the country’s reconstruction and recovery challenge.
Speaking at the conclusion of the IMF mission, Rooden said: “Syria’s economic recovery is accelerating. In 2025, the economy started to recover with improved consumer and investor sentiment following the regime change, the return of about 1.5 million refugees, and Syria’s gradual re-integration with the regional and global economy, which helped offset the dampening effect on growth of a major drought that adversely affected agriculture.”
