- By Anushka Vats
- Tue, 31 Dec 2024 02:38 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Maysaa Sabrine is the first woman to become the governor of Central Bank of Syria in 70 years. She succeeded Mohammed Issam Hazime, who was the governor of the Syrian Central government since 2021. Let's take a look at who is Maysaa Sabrine.
- Maysaa Sabrine has been a member of the board of directors at the Damascus Securities Exchange since December 2018, representing the Central Bank of Syria.
- She holds master's degree in accounting from Damascus University and is a certified public accountant.
- Sabrine is the second woman to hold a top position in the new administration headed by de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.
- She was previously announced as the head of the Women's Affairs Office by the interim government.
- Sabrine previously held the roles of deputy governor of the bank and head of the Office Control Division.
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- She has been a senior official at the central bank for over 15 years, with her work largely centered on regulating Syria's banking sector.
- She replaced Mohammed Issam Hazime who was appointed governor in 2021 by then-President Bashar al-Assad and remained on after Assad was ousted by a lightning rebel offensive on December 8.
Since the rebel takeover, the bank has taken steps to liberalize an economy that was heavily controlled by the state, including by 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 strict US sanctions.
According to a report by Reuters, the bank has also taken stock of the country's assets after Assad's fall and a brief spate of looting that saw Syrian currency stolen but the main vaults left unbreached.