UN development arm plans for $1.3bln in help for Syria, top official says

The United Nations Development Programme is hoping to deliver $1.3 billion over three years to support war-ravaged Syria, including by rebuilding infrastructure and backing digital start-ups, its assistant secretary-general told Reuters.

Abdallah Dardari told Reuters in Damascus that investing in Syria - hit hard by 14 years of conflict that ended when former leader Bashar al-Assad was ousted by a rebel offensive in December and fled the country - was seen as a "global public good."

"Our total plan for Syria over three years is $1.3 billion. This is not just a number, but a comprehensive strategy covering all support aspects," Dardari said. He said that help could include introducing artificial intelligence, setting up social protection programmes and rebuilding infrastructure.

He said it would be crucial to mobilise funds from different sources including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as well as other countries in the region such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

A roundtable on Syria hosted by the Saudi finance minister and World Bank is set to take place on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington, D.C. next week, sources have told Reuters.

"It gives a signal to the rest of the world and to the people of Syria that you have these biggest financial institutions ready to support," Dardari said.

Reuters reported last week that Saudi Arabia plans to pay off around $15 million in Syrian arrears to the World Bank, paving the way for millions of dollars in possible grants for reconstruction and other economic support to Syria. Sources have since told Reuters that the Saudis made the payments.

Dardari told Reuters that pay-off would allow the World Bank to support Syria through its International Development Association which provides funds for low-income countries.

"This is a big ticket item for Syria to negotiate with the World Bank. There's also the Special Drawing Rights at the IMF. Again, that's a big ticket item, in addition to all the policy and technical assistance that the Bank and the Fund can provide Syria," Dardari said.

Since former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was toppled last year after a nearly 14-year civil war, his successors have called on the international community to lift sanctions imposed against the country during his rule.

So far, most of those sanctions remain in place, with the United States and other Western countries saying the new authorities still need to demonstrate a commitment to peaceful and inclusive rule.

SANCTIONS

Syria has $563 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) at the IMF. But using the funds requires approval by IMF members holding 85% of the total votes, giving the United States, with 16.5% of the votes, an effective veto.

Syria's finance minister, central bank governor and foreign minister are planning on attending the spring meetings next week, Reuters reported earlier this month.

It would be the first visit to the meetings by a high-level Syrian government delegation in at least two decades, and the first high-level visit by Syria's new authorities to the U.S. Assad's fall.

Washington has handed Syria a list of conditions which, if fulfilled, could lead to some sanctions relief, Reuters reported last month. Dardari said that sanctions remained "a considerable obstacle" to Syria's growth trajectory.

"Syria needs tens of billions of dollars in investments and in technical assistance and so on, and that cannot happen with such heavy sanctions imposed on the country," he said, calling for sanctions "to be lifted in a comprehensive manner." Dardari said UNDP had secured a sanctions exemption from the U.S. Treasury to mobilize up to $50 million to repair the Deir Ali power plant south of Damascus.

Three sources familiar with the issue told Reuters the World Bank is exploring hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to improve Syria's electricity grid and support the public sector.

Syria's central bank governor Abdelkader Husrieh told Reuters that his country wanted to be compliant with global financial standards but that sanctions were still "blocking the economy from going forward".

"We want to be part of the international financial system and hope that the international community will help us to remove any obstacle to this integration," he said.