Damascus, Syria — Syrian authorities have appointed Maysa Sabreen as interim central bank governor, a bank official told AFP on Tuesday, the first time a woman heads the financial establishment.
Sabreen, until recently the bank’s first deputy governor, took her new position on Tuesday, said a department manager at the Central Bank of Syria who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
“We received an internal circular yesterday assigning Dr Maysa Sabreen to run the Central Bank of Syria in a caretaker capacity,” he said.
He did not say when her interim mandate was due to end.
Sabreen, a Syrian banking expert, held the position of first deputy governor since 2018.
She has also served on the central bank’s management committee, the Damascus Stock Exchange board of directors, the national Accounting and Auditing Board, the Monetary and Credit Council, and the Real Estate Finance Supervision Authority board of directors.
Mohammed Issam Hazime, who headed the central bank before her, was appointed in 2021 under the rule of Bashar al-Assad who was ousted by Islamist-led rebels on December 8.
Syria’s national currency has lost about 90 percent of its value since the start of the civil war in 2011, plummeting from 50 pounds to 12,000-15,000 to the US dollar.