Syria's new leaders appoint first woman head of central bank

Maysaa Sabrine, formerly deputy governor at the bank, will replace Mohammed Issam Hazime

Syria’s new rulers have appointed Maysaa Sabrine as the governor of the Central Bank of Syria, making her the first woman to hold this position in the bank’s history. Photo: Supplied

Syria's interim government has appointed Maysaa Sabrine as the first woman to head the country's central bank, a spokesman said.

Ms Sabrine, a long-serving official at the bank who was previously its deputy governor, replaces Mohammed Issam Hazime.

Mr Hazime was appointed central bank governor in 2021 by former president Bashar Al Assad and continued in his post after Mr Al Assad was overthrown by rebels on December 8.

The bank has taken steps to liberalise the economy under the new government, removing controls imposed under Mr Al Assad such as the need for pre-approvals for imports and exports and restrictions on the use of foreign currency.

Diana Rayes, a non-resident fellow for the Syria Project at the Atlantic Council think tank, said Ms Sabrine's appointment was "a positive step toward more inclusive governance and shows the authorities are giving priority to macroeconomic stabilisation and recovery".

"Her appointment underscores the significance of technocratic expertise and knowledge of how the state functions and has been functioning, including part corruptive practices that Sabrine can potentially shed light on and offer insights into how to rectify," she wrote on X.

The central bank has taken stock of the country's assets after Mr Al Assad's fall and a brief spate of looting that saw Syrian currency stolen but the main vaults left unbreached, Reuters reported.

The vault holds nearly 26 tonnes of gold, the same amount it had at the start of its civil war in 2011, sources told Reuters, but foreign currency reserves had dwindled from about $18 billion before the war to about $200 million, they said.

Syria and its central bank remain under strict US sanctions imposed over the government's violent suppression of protests against Mr Al Assad in 2011 and the subsequent civil war.