Authorities Accused of Ignoring Effect of US Sanctions

Syrian authorities have refused to acknowledge the negative effects of United States sanctions on the national economy, which has aggravated the problems caused by these punitive measures, an August 20 op-ed article in the news website Syria Steps said.



Washington has imposed a series of economic sanctions against Damascus since 2004, prohibiting the export of most US-made goods to Syria except food and medicine because of the country’s alleged support of terrorism.



Despite the recent rapprochement between the two nations, the US renewed sanctions earlier this year. American officials said later that they would seek sanctions waivers as a sign of goodwill towards Damascus.



The article’s author, Ziad Ghossen, accused the Syrian government of regarding the sanctions as ineffective and consequently refusing to adopt any policy to limit their effect on the economy.



Ghossen said that several sectors have been damaged by the punitive US measures.



He said the Syrian national airline has become “the oldest and poorest” in the region because it did not have access to US-manufactured parts and two of its four aircraft might have to be withdrawn next winter.



Having contributed income to the state coffers in the past, the national carrier would have to borrow money from the treasury to pay the salaries of its employees if its situation continued to worsen, he added.



By preventing Syria from building new power stations, the sanctions also affected the electricity sector, he said.



The punitive measures have also put pressure on the Commercial Bank of Syria, Ghossen said, and the official newspaper Al-Thawra has had to close its printing plant because it needs US-made parts and the paper is printed on the presses of another newspaper.



Ghossen said that the government could have alleviated these economic problems if it had sought alternative solutions to the US sanctions by turning, for instance, to other countries like Russia and Malaysia.



He said the Syrian authorities should open the way to a national debate about how to deal with the US sanctions.