Syria’s economy poised for improvement after US sanctions removal

Syria’s removal by the United States from its “state sponsors of terrorism” list clears one of the last major hurdles to the country’s integration into the global financial system, analysts tell Al Jazeera.

On July 8, US President Donald Trump announced he was formally notifying Congress of his intention to rescind Syria’s designation, which had been in place since 1979. A 45-day congressional review period passed on Saturday, and the US completed the formal delisting on Monday.
While Washington had already lifted many of the restrictions preventing transactions with Syrian banks, the “terrorism” designation continued to carry additional financial and trade restrictions, and Syria’s removal will give the country – still struggling to pick itself up after a nearly 14-year war – a badly needed economic boost.
Longstanding sanctions
Syria was first designated by the US as a “state sponsor of terrorism” in 1979 under the presidency of Hafez al-Assad.

The country was originally placed on the list for its support of Palestinian armed groups. Syrian-US relations were later strained when the US invaded Iraq in 2003, just a few years after Hafez died and his son Bashar succeeded him. Washington pulled out of its embassy in Syria in 2012, a year after Syrians rose up against the al-Assad regime, which responded with brutal suppression and violence, leading to war.