Damascus-Sana
The Central Bank of Syria affirmed that the law to create microfinance banks issued today aims to achieve financial access for the largest possible segment of people with low or no income and those who have the ability to engage in economic activity and cannot access banking financial services to secure additional income for them and create new job opportunities from In order to achieve sustainable development.
In a statement to SANA’s delegate, the Head of the Licensing and Registration Department at the Government Commission for Banks at the Central Bank of Syria, Rani Deeb, explained that the law will make a quantum leap in developing the work of the institutions of microfinance banks, supporting their financial centers, and encouraging the possibility of increasing their number in various governorates to achieve their development and social goals in accordance with the state’s general policy, stressing that This law represents the unified legal and regulatory framework under which all the aforementioned banks fall.
Deeb indicated that the law grants tax exemptions and privileges to microfinance banks in the framework of encouraging their creation, supporting their activities, and achieving the desired social dimensions through the employment of profits, in addition to the fact that the advantages related to tax exemptions also benefit the dealers and depositors in these banks.
Deeb stated that the law includes an explicit ban on private associations and institutions from practicing activities of microfinance banks represented in receiving deposits and granting loans with the imposition of appropriate support for penalties and penalties for violating this prohibition, but at the same time it supports the attraction of these private associations and institutions by submitting a license request to create Microfinance Bank to the Monetary and Credit Board to support its carrying out a licensed activity under the umbrella of the Central Bank and the Monetary and Credit Council as per the rules.
Deeb pointed out that the law raised the minimum capital of the Microfinance Bank to 5 billion pounds and allowed it to form a cut-off center in the event that there are subscriptions of capital in foreign currencies to support the bank’s capital without allowing foreign exchange to be used in its operational activities in line with the nature of its work and the target segments in addition to Tax exemptions that would strengthen the financial position of the bank, especially during the foundation years.
Deeb pointed out that the participation of public authorities in establishing this type of bank has been prohibited based on the justifications related to the fact that the participation in companies is not the nature of the activities of these bodies.
Wasim Al-Adawi
