Syria Names New Central Bank Chief

Syrian pounds, the country's embattled currency. (AFP)
Syrian pounds, the country's embattled currency. (AFP)
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Syria Names New Central Bank Chief

Syrian pounds, the country's embattled currency. (AFP)
Syrian pounds, the country's embattled currency. (AFP)

President Bashar al-Assad appointed a new central bank chief on Tuesday, a week after the former governor was sacked amid Syria's spiraling economic crisis.

"President Assad issues decree Number 126 for the year 2021 which appoints Mohammad Issam Hazimeh as the new governor of Syria's central bank," the presidency said in a statement.

A lawyer by training, Hazimeh has served as deputy central bank governor since 2018, according to pro-government daily Al-Watan.

It said he earlier held posts at the justice ministry, the Damascus Securities Exchange and the state-owned company responsible for online payments.

He replaces Hazem Karfoul who was dismissed in a decree last Tuesday after three years in the post.

Karfoul oversaw an accelerating economic crisis sparked by civil war and compounded by sanctions, the coronavirus pandemic and a financial crunch in neighboring Lebanon.

Al-Watan last week said he was fired because of his "shortcomings" in dealing with the crisis.

"He lacked the courage and responsibility to take technical measures to curb" the devaluation of the Syrian pound, it said, citing sources.

Hazimeh will inherit the daunting task of stabilizing the local currency which has lost more than 98 percent of its value against the dollar on the black market.

Officially valued at 1,256 to the greenback, the dollar now costs nearly 3,000 pounds on the black market.

The government last month started enforcing a series of measures to stem a further drop in the pound's value.

They include new import bans and a state crackdown on unofficial money exchangers, Al-Watan said.



Rebuilding Gaza Will Cost Over $50 Billion, Says World Bank 

Palestinians walk past tents lining the streets amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2025, as people return to northern parts of Gaza during a current ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians walk past tents lining the streets amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2025, as people return to northern parts of Gaza during a current ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Rebuilding Gaza Will Cost Over $50 Billion, Says World Bank 

Palestinians walk past tents lining the streets amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2025, as people return to northern parts of Gaza during a current ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians walk past tents lining the streets amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on February 18, 2025, as people return to northern parts of Gaza during a current ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

The World Bank, United Nations and the European Union are pointing to a formidable international reconstruction effort ahead for Gaza, which they estimate will cost $53.2 billion.

“Funding will require a broad coalition of donors, diverse financing instruments, private sector resources and significant improvements in the delivery of reconstruction materials to Gaza,” said the report released Tuesday.

The organizations said they would work with partners to devise a “strategic plan” to oversee the recovery and reconstruction.

The report identified almost $30 billion in damage as a result of the war — with nearly half of that due to destruction of homes. The war has displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza’s population, and since a ceasefire took effect last month, many displaced Palestinians have returned to find their former homes in ruins.

The report said Gaza would require about $20 billion for recovery and reconstruction needs over the next three years.

It says an additional $33 billion will be needed in the long term, including funds to rebuild the territory’s social and health services and the battered economy.