Syria

Syria continues to defy regional trends, with both its stock market and banking sector seeing a flurry of activity in spite of the economic slowdown. These are encouraging signs that... 2010-02-19

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri visited Syria in mid-December, after nearly five years of highly strained ties between Damascus and Hariri's 'March 14' governing alliance.... 2010-01-04

Consumer price inflation came in at 0.0% y-o-y in September 2009, which represents a sharp fall from the end-2008 reading of 15.1% y-o-y. Moving into 2010, we see price pressures... 2010-01-04

Lower oil prices and a slowdown in domestic economic growth are having a negative impact on Syria's fiscal situation in 2009, and we see the budget deficit widening to 2.7% of GDP,... 2009-09-25

Government officials from Syria and Iraq already appear to be smoothing over the cracks exposed by their recent diplomatic dispute. Tensions certainly remain, and Iraq's accusation... 2009-09-25

The US is to return an ambassador to Damascus for the first time since 2005. The last ambassador was withdrawn due to suspected Syrian involvement in the assassination of Lebanese... 2009-06-29

Inflation has come down rapidly in Syria, dropping from 15.1% y-o-y at the end of 2008 to 5.0% by March 2009. We are forecasting further falls as the year wears on, to a year-end... 2009-06-29