Washington, Aug. 7 (SANA)TheWorld Bankannounced on Friday that its Board of Executive Directors approved a $100 million grant from the International Development Association (IDA) to support Syria in building a modern, secure, and digitally enabled financial sector.

According to the official statement, the “Syria Financial Sector Modernization Project” will fund investments to make financial transactions safer, faster, and more transparent, while creating conditions to improve access to financial services.

The World Bank noted that Syria’s financial sector faces challenges, including heavy reliance on cash, minimal financial intermediation, and outdated digital payment infrastructure, which inflates transaction costs and hinders access to finance and international trade channels.

The project will support basic financial infrastructure modernization, banking sector rehabilitation, operational capacity building for the Central Bank of Syria, and efforts to strengthen supervision, financial stability, and integrity.

Targeting key digital benchmarks, the initiative aims to enable at least 15 million annual electronic transactions for individuals and assist 500,000 individuals and businesses—including 150,000 women—in utilizing digital payments.

Director of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Qutaiba Kadish, recently met with the World Bank’s Regional Director for the Middle East, Dalia Khalifa, to review ongoing cooperation, following Finance Minister Mohamed Yisr Barnieh’s announcement of the World Bank’s endorsement of Syria’s 2026 economic reforms.