IMF agrees on technical assistance program for war-ravaged Syria

The International Monetary Fund says it has agreed on a wide-ranging technical assistance program for conflict-ravaged Syria, where the new government is rebuilding the economy after more than a decade of civil war.

The agreed-upon IMF technical assistance program will include helping Syrian authorities with capacity building on fiscal reforms, revenue mobilization and public debt management.

The program will also focus on financial sector reforms, including preparing new legislation and regulations, helping to rehabilitate the crippled banking sector and enhancing anti-money-laundering and anti-terrorism-financing controls.

Syria has not officially asked the IMF for a bailout package. Such a request would be contingent on a debt analysis and possible restructuring, and negotiations with the IMF.