Talks on the Bangkok Sidelines
Syria's finance minister and central bank governor held a series of meetings with international financial institutions on the sidelines of the 2026 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, held in Bangkok from 12 to 18 October 2026.
The discussions centered on restoring access to multilateral financing, rebuilding institutional capacity, and reviving development projects stalled for years.
Reviving Infrastructure Loans
Officials met the president of the Islamic Development Bank Group and senior staff to discuss settling Syria's outstanding financial obligations to the bank, a step both sides described as a prerequisite for resuming the bank's financing of infrastructure projects. The two sides named priority sectors — sanitation, transport, health, and energy — and agreed to frame how earlier projects would be completed alongside new ones.
The agenda also covered support for trade finance, including petroleum products, and for the private sector through the group's Islamic trade-finance arm. The bank's president said he was ready to visit Damascus before the end of 2026 to prepare agreements.
Capacity and Forecasting
In a separate meeting, the delegation discussed with the director of the Fund's Institute for Capacity Development support for new training and institution-building programs, including courses in Damascus covering fiscal and monetary policy and statistical capacity.
The talks also reviewed work on improving the country's economic forecasting and increasing the number of Syrians admitted to the Fund's training courses.
A Call for Concessional Funding
At a ministerial meeting of the Group of 24 attended by the heads of both institutions, the finance minister argued that countries emerging from conflict cannot wait for full stability before reforming their economies, and cannot rebuild institutions without sufficient concessional financing.
He said Syria was making accelerated progress on economic and financial reform. The Fund's managing director told the Syrian delegation she welcomed a visit to the country.
Part of a Wider Reset
The meetings extended earlier contacts with the World Bank Group's president on financing updates and project implementation. The finance minister framed the reforms as aimed at creating conditions to attract investment, in cooperation with international institutions and what he termed Syria's partners abroad. Together they point to a gradual re-engagement between Damascus and the institutions that fund reconstruction and balance-of-payments support.