By Timour Azhari and Maya Gebeily
DAMASCUS (Reuters) – The vaults in Syria’s central bank were left unscathed by looters in the turmoil that briefly engulfed the capital Damascus after the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad, a senior business leader and three other sources told Reuters.
Syrian rebels had seized Damascus unopposed on Sunday after a lightning advance that sent Assad fleeing to Russia after a 13-year civil war and more than five decades of autocratic Assad family rule.
Bassel Hamawi, head of the Damascus Chambers of Commerce, said authorities had confirmed to him that looters had stolen some money from the central bank building but that the main vault had remained untouched. It was unclear how much money was stored in the vaults.
“The most important point is that the amounts in the central bank are still as they were, there is no infringement on the central bank and the money in the central bank has been handed over to the new government,” Hamawi said.
Two other sources in contact with central bank officials said they had also been informed that looters who took to the streets of Damascus in the hours after the Assad regime’s military laid down its weapons did not breach the main vault.
Another source close to the main rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Shams (HTS), who had met with the central bank governor said all reserves were present.
Sources said both central bank governor Issam Hazima, appointed in 2021, and his deputy Maysaa Sabreen were still working at the bank. Neither responded to Reuters requests for comment.
The central bank has not reported reserve data in over a decade and it is unclear how much it has at its disposal.
The International Monetary Fund, which compiles data on central bank assets around the globe, declined to comment on Syria’s position.
The last estimates from the IMF and the St Louis Federal Reserve put Syria’s gross international reserves at $18.5 billion in 2010 – before its ruinous 13-year civil war.
According to the World Gold Council, which tracks central banks’ gold holdings, Syria’s central bank held 12% of its reserves in the precious metal in June 2011 – amounting to 25.8 metric tons of gold.
On Tuesday, central bank employees were seen returning to work at the grand building in the centre of Damascus, filing through the security gates behind guarded entrance doors.
“God willing, we will start a new shift, a new day, a new year, a new life – everything new,” central bank employee Sumayra al-Mukli told Reuters as she got off the bus, smiling as she walked towards the bank.
(Reporting by Timour Azhari and Maya Gebeily in Damascus; additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington; writing by Karin Strohecker; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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