A New Financial Partnership
France has launched a two-year technical assistance program for the Central Bank of Syria, describing it as a step to deepen cooperation between Paris and Damascus. The central bank began the project on 7 October 2026 with the arrival of a French technical mission.
The French chargé d'affaires said the program fulfills a commitment made during the French president's visit to Damascus in July 2026.
What the Program Covers
The program is run jointly by the French Treasury's directorate general and the agency Expertise France, with participation from experts at the Banque de France. Its stated focus areas are banking supervision, monetary policy, liquidity management, and institutional capacity building.
The aim is to strengthen the Syrian institution's technical and administrative capacity in those areas. The French technical mission traveled to Damascus to begin the work directly with central bank staff, and no funding figure was disclosed.
Restoring Banking Ties
The program follows a gradual reopening of channels between the Syrian central bank and European financial institutions. On 7 July 2026, the central bank announced it had reactivated its banking relationship with the Banque de France by restarting its account there.
That move restored a correspondent link that had been dormant for years, a step that helps route transactions through the European banking system. It was one of the first concrete signs that a European institution was prepared to deal directly with the Syrian monetary authority again.
Why It Matters
Rebuilding supervisory and monetary-policy capacity is central to Syria's effort to reconnect its banking sector to the outside world after a long period of isolation. Stronger oversight and functioning correspondent relationships are conditions that foreign banks and investors typically require before resuming dealings.
The engagement signals that a major European economy is prepared to commit technical resources to that process over a sustained period.