FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES
ANNUAL REPORT 2015
SYRIA
Country Facts
key CAPITAL MARKETS INFORMATION
Country Syria Legal Legal identity with financial and administrative autonomy
Capital Damascus Regulation Syrian Commission on Financial Markets and Securities (SCFMS)
Securities market regulations Decree number /55/ for the year 2006
Area (km ) 185,000
Population (million) 23
Currency Syrian Pound (SYP)
2
Exchange rate (1 USD) 181.43
Time zone GMT+2
Calling code 963
Name of stock exchange Damascus Securities Exchange (DSE)
Number of listed companies 24
Rates of taxes Exempted
Trading rules Trading rules existing in DSE rules
Surveillance Surveillance rules existing in DSE rules
Disclosure According to DSE rules and SCFMS rules
Corporate actions Trading rules existing in DSE rules
Trading halts regulation Trading rules existing in DSE rules
Investor protection Trading rules existing in DSE rules
key economıc data
The economy has witnessed a dramatic contraction
since the beginning of the conflict. According to
figures from the CBS, annual GDP growth before
the crisis between 2004 and 2009 averaged
5.7%. Since 2012, the estimates diverged with
EIU offering a more optimistic perspective than
SCPR’s and ESCWA’s. SCPR and ESCWA converge
in their projection that economic contraction has
significantly slowed in 2014, with GDP falling to
38% (SCPR) or 48% of 2010 GDP (ESCWA). EIU,
on the other hand, projects that the economy has
bottomed out, with growth averaging a modest
0.5% in 2014, driven by the economy’s adjustment
to the military stalemate in addition to the
considerable migration of businesses to more stable
coastal areas.
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The conflict has caused a drop in government
revenues and a spike in spending, sending the fiscal
balance into severe deficit. ESCWA estimates a 2013
budget deficit of -26.3% of GDP. EIU estimates a
deficit of -12.9 % in 2013 and projects deficits of
-10.7% of GDP in 2014. SCPR estimates a deficit
close to 20% during 2013 and 2014 and almost
doubles its estimates to 35.7% and 40.5% after
adding off-budget subsidies. SCPR projects foreign
debt increased tenfold from 7% of GDP in 2010 to
71% at end-2014, whereas domestic debt increased
from 16 to 76% of GDP. This implies a total debt
of 147% of GDP by end-2014. Meanwhile EIU
estimates external debt in 2014 at a much lower
40% of GDP. Syria’s GDP had remained dependent
on the oil and agriculture sectors, themselves
subject to fluctuating oil prices and rainfall. Main
sources of foreign earnings were oil exports,
exports of services, and foreign transfers of income
and remittances; however these sources are now
seriously curtailed by the crisis.
Once the situation stabilizes, Syria will have to
grapple with immediate economic challenges. It
will also need to support the return of internally
displaced people and refugees in neighboring
countries, rebuild the country’s infrastructure,
enhance the provision of public services including
health and education, and rebuild the social fabric
of the country.
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