Middle East & Africa | Road from ruin

Syria’s new rulers have inherited an economic disaster

A legacy of mismanagement and lingering sanctions will make it hard to rebuild the country

A woman walks past some damaged buildings after bombing by the Syrian regime in the city of Darayya on December 30, 2024
Construction workers wantedPhotograph: Getty Images
|DUBAI

THERE ARE few tougher jobs in Syria. On December 30th the country’s interim government named Maysaa Sabrine to head the central bank. A former deputy governor of the bank and the first woman ever appointed to the job, her nomination sent two reassuring messages: that Syria’s new rulers recognise the need for technocrats, even those who were part of Bashar al-Assad’s regime; and they will not ostracise women from public life.

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This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “The road from ruin”

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