Syrians hope for economic recovery after West lifts sanctions

At a currency exchange in Damascus, Anas al-Shammaa is one of many Syrians hopeful that promised relief from Western sanctions will help revive their country’s economy after years of war and isolation.

“We were totally cut off from the world,” said Shammaa, 45, who has been running the exchange shop since 2008.

With the lifting of sanctions, “we hope that the Syrian economy will start to recover both gradually and quickly”, he told AFP.

Syria’s economy plunged into crisis during the years of…