Syria’s new rulers have appointed Maysaa Sabrine, formerly a deputy governor of the Syrian central bank, to lead the institution – the first woman to do so in its more than 70-year history, a senior Syrian official said.
With more than 15 years of experience in the field, Sabrine is a longtime central bank official mostly focused on oversight of the country’s banking sector.
A master’s in accounting from Damascus University and a certified public accountant, Sabrine has been a member of the board of directors at the Damascus Securities Exchange since December 2018, representing the central bank. She has also served as deputy governor and chief of the Office Control Division at the bank, according to the bank’s official website.
Sabrine replaces Mohammed Issam Hazime, who was appointed governor in 2021 by then-President Bashar al-Assad and remained on after al-Assad was overthrown by a lightning rebel offensive, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), on December 8.
Since the rebel takeover, the bank has taken steps to liberalise an economy that was heavily controlled by the state, including cancelling the need for pre-approvals for imports and exports and tight controls on the use of foreign currency.
But Syria and the bank itself remain under heavy sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western powers.
The bank has also taken stock of the country’s assets after al-Assad’s fall and a brief spate of looting that saw Syrian currency stolen but the main vaults left unbreached.
The vault holds nearly 26 tonnes of gold, the same amount it had at the start of its civil war in 2011, sources said, but foreign currency reserves had dwindled from approximately $18bn before the war to about $200m, they said.
Sabrine is the second woman who has been appointed by the new Syrian administration, headed by de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.
Earlier this month, Aisha al-Dibs was appointed as the head of the Women’s Affairs Office under the Syrian interim government.
