Talks in Damascus
Syria's Minister of Finance, Mohammad Yasir Barnieh, met a mission from the International Monetary Fund on Sunday, 13 September 2026, at the ministry's headquarters in Damascus. The two sides discussed technical support to help the ministry apply the latest edition of the Government Finance Statistics Manual, the international framework used to classify public revenue, spending, and debt.
Toward International Standards
The talks focused on the requirements for beginning the transition to the manual in Syria, a step intended to raise the efficiency of fiscal data and to identify what is needed to move to the new international framework. The minister directed the relevant team to complete the requirements before the end of the current year.
A Two-Week Mission
The IMF mission's current visit to Syria is set to last two weeks. The instruction to finish preparations before the end of the current year gives the process a defined timeline, running from the two-week technical exchange to a broader rollout in the months that follow.
Officials framed the effort as part of a push to strengthen transparency and improve the quality of public-finance data, in a way that supports policymaking and decision-making.
Modernizing Fiscal Data
Adopting the updated statistics framework is part of a broader effort to modernize how the state records and reports its finances. More consistent and comparable fiscal data is generally treated as a building block for closer engagement with international financial institutions and for tracking budgets over time.
Growth Outlook
The engagement follows a statement issued by the Fund in August at the end of an earlier expert visit, which projected growth exceeding 10 percent this year. The statement also anticipated a decline in inflation by 2027, conditional on the easing of import pressures. Taken together, the meetings point to a gradually deepening technical relationship between Damascus and the Fund.