It may be a sign that crucial Gulf Arab support for Syria is beginning to materialize after previous plans, including an initiative by Doha to fund salaries, were held up by uncertainty over U.S. sanctions.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have announced that they will settle Syria’s debt to the World Bank totalling roughly $15m, according to a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency, in the latest effort to help reverse the economic fortunes of a nation beset by years of war.

IMF-World Bank Meetings to Discuss Restoring Support for Syria, UN Official Says By Maya Gebeily and Timour Azhari DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Officials will discuss major steps to restore support for ...

Turkish companies and banks will benefit from a lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria, Onur Genc, chief executive officer of BBVA said on Wednesday.

The United States is to lift all sanctions on Syria, Donald Trump announced on Tuesday. The removal of sanctions, at the behest of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, represents a major US policy shift before an expected meeting between Mr Trump and Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Islamist president of Syria, on Wednesday.

The United Nations says nine out of 10 Syrians live in poverty. The country's interim finance minister in January said that pay for public sector workers would be increased by 400% from February at an estimated monthly cost of 1.65 trillion Syrian pounds ($130 million). He had cited regional aid as one source of funding for the increase.

Syria’s president has flown to Bahrain, where he discussed mutual relations and regional affairs with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on his latest trip abroad since taking office in January

France's president said on Wednesday he would urge the EU to end sanctions on Syria when they come up for renewal in June and lobby the U.S. to follow suit as well as keep its troops there to ensure Syria's stability.