Damascus, SANA – The People’s Assembly passed in its session on Wednesday a bill on founding a loan risk insurance establishment, with the goal of supporting small and medium enterprises given the difficulty of providing guarantees for funding these projects.
The establishment aims at maintaining the stability of the financial sector and distributing risks and preventing their concentration whether in the banking sector or in projects, especially after a lot of loans granted by the banking sector for projects have stalled as a result of current circumstances.
The establishment will be a joint-stock private company that doesn’t put up its shares for public offering, is based in Damascus, and has the right to open branches and offices across the country as necessary.
In accordance with law, the establishment will invest part of its surplus funds at a value of no more than 25% of its capital in various low-risk financial investments.
Finance Minister Ismael Ismael pointed out that the foundation will work as an insurance company, while Economy and Foreign Trade Minister Humam al-Jazaeri said that financial institutions from friendly countries can contribute to the foundation by less than 49% of its shares.
Manar al-Freih / Hazem Sabbagh