LONDON: The World Bank on Friday approved a $100 million grant to help the Syrian Arab Republic build a modern, secure and digitally enabled financial sector.
The grant from the International Development Association will finance the Syria Financial Sector Modernization Project, which aims to make transactions safer, faster and more transparent while broadening access to financial services, the bank said.
“A modern financial system is essential for Syria’s economic recovery and future development,” Dahlia Khalifa, the World Bank’s director for the Middle East Department, said in a statement.
“The Syria Financial Sector Modernization Project will help make payments safer and more efficient, strengthen financial integrity, and establish essential foundations enabling the financial sector to better serve households and businesses, including through expanded access to financial services necessary to support private sector-led growth and job creation.”
Syria’s financial sector remains heavily reliant on cash, with limited financial intermediation and outdated digital-payment infrastructure, according to the World Bank. Those shortcomings increase transaction costs and restrict access to financing and international trade channels.
