Maysa Sabrin becomes the first woman to lead Syria’s central bank. syrian war news
Sabreen is the first female governor of the Syrian central bank in its more than 70-year history.
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Maysa Sabreen, a former deputy governor of the Syrian central bank, to lead the institution – the first woman to do so in its more than 70-year history, a senior Syrian official said.
With over 15 years of experience in the field, Sabreen is a long-time central bank official who focuses mostly on monitoring the country’s banking sector.
A Master of Accounting from Damascus University and a Certified Public Accountant, Sabreen has been a member of the Board of Directors at the Damascus Securities Exchange since December 2018, representing the Central Bank. According to the bank’s official website, he has also served as the Deputy Governor and Head of Office Control Division in the bank.
Sabreen replaces Mohammed Issam Hazem, who was appointed governor by then-President Bashar al-Assad in 2021 and who was ousted on December 8 by a lightning rebel attack led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). He remained in position after being thrown.
Since the rebel takeover, the bank has taken steps to liberalize an economy heavily controlled by the state, including canceling the pre-approval requirement for imports and exports and tightening controls on the use of foreign currency.
But Syria and the banks themselves are subject to heavy sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western powers.
The bank has also taken stock of the country’s assets following the fall of al-Assad and a brief series of lootings, in which Syrian currency was stolen but the main safes were spared.
The sources said the vault contained about 26 tonnes of gold, the same amount as at the start of the civil war in 2011, but foreign exchange reserves had declined from about $18 billion before the war to about $200 million.
Sabreen is the second woman to be appointed by the new Syrian administration led by de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Earlier this month, Aisha al-Dibs was appointed as the head of the Office of Women’s Affairs under the Syrian interim government.
