Assad: $60 billion Syrian funds frozen in Lebanon

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad revealed the value of Syrian funds frozen in Lebanese banks, indicating that they are estimated between 40 billion and 60 billion dollars.

Al-Assad said, during his swearing-in ceremony for a new term before members of the People's Assembly on Saturday, that the biggest obstacle to investment in the country is the Syrian funds frozen in troubled Lebanese banks.

Al-Assad revealed that some estimates indicate that between 40 billion and 60 billion dollars of Syrian funds are frozen in Lebanon.

"Both numbers are enough to frustrate an economy the size of ours," he added.

Lebanon suffers from a deep economic collapse that threatens its stability.

Lebanese banks have prevented depositors from withdrawing their money and suspended transfers abroad since the beginning of the crisis in the country in late 2019.

Many Syrian front companies have long circumvented Western sanctions by using the Lebanese banking system to pay for goods that were then imported into Syria by land.

Al-Assad made it clear that Syria will continue to work to overcome the difficulties caused by the Western sanctions imposed on it since the outbreak of the conflict in the country.

"The siege was not able to prevent us from securing basic materials, but it created a suffocation," Assad said.

And he added, "We will continue to work on it without announcing what methods we used previously or what we will use later."

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