Interest Support Program Grants Rehabilitation Loans for Affected Industrial and Artisan Establishments

On September 3, the Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance represented by public banks, launched a program to support the interest rates on loans aimed at industrialists and artisans who own partially damaged and destroyed establishments, with the goal of rehabilitating and restoring them.

The total number of damaged industrial and artisan establishments stands at 1,500 and requires SYP 4,000 billion for their repair and rehabilitation, Iyad Khaddour, Director of Costing and Financial Analysis at the Ministry of Industry told Tishreen newspaper on September 16.

The program’s launch was based on a letter from the Prime Minister (No. 10466/1) issued on August 21, which followed the recommendation of the Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers, chaired by the Minister of Economy, in its 42nd session held on August 19. The recommendation included approval of the operational program to support interest rates on loans granted for the rehabilitation of damaged industrial establishments and putting it into effect.

The program aims to encourage industrialists and artisans to repair their establishments damaged during the war and return to work, contributing to “reviving economic activity, mitigating the effects of destruction, and promoting growth and recovery pathways for the national economy as a whole,” according to the ministry.

The program stipulates that the state’s general budget will cover 7 percent of the interest on loans granted by public banks to the benefiting industrialists and artisans, while they will bear the remaining interest rate, which ranges between 4 percent  and 6 percent of the loan value.

Industrialists and artisans interested in the program must submit applications for these loans within one year of the program’s launch. Applications must be accompanied by a feasibility study for the damaged industrial establishment. A committee from the relevant gouvernorate’s Chamber of Industry is expected to conduct an on-site inspection of the establishment and determine the damage percentage. The damage percentage must range between 25 percent and 50 percent. Applicants must also provide a police report proving that their establishment was damaged due to the war. The report can be dated either immediately after the damage occurred or after regime forces regained control of the area. Beneficiaries must also present proof of ownership or an investment contract for the damaged establishment, along with an industrial registry and administrative license. Beneficiaries will be granted a grace period of up to one and a half years before starting loan repayments, with the repayment period not exceeding 10 years.

The program is adopted by two government banks—the Industrial Bank and the Commercial Bank of Syria—which work in collaboration with the Loan Risk Guarantee Corporation, established under Law No. 12 of 2016, aimed at enabling small and medium enterprises to obtain the necessary financing from financial institutions. The two banks offer loans to the program’s beneficiaries, backed either by real estate collateral or by the Loan Risk Guarantee Corporation.

While the program does not specify the loan amounts, it defines the types of loans available: loans for the rehabilitation and repair of buildings related to the damaged project, loans for the replacement and purchase of machinery, and working capital loans.

The program covers all governorates under the control of the Damascus government. A similar program was launched in 2019, offering 7 percent interest rate support, but it was limited to industrialists affected by the war in Aleppo Governorate.

The Export and Production Support and Development Authority, under Ministry of Economy Decision No. 628 of 2019, established the “Interest Rate Support Division,” affiliated with the Authority’s Director-General’s Office, to determine the eligibility of loan applicants for the support and its value. From its inception until January 2024, the Interest Rate Support Division launched 37 sub-programs, benefiting 423 projects—381 of which were in the agricultural sector, including the operation and rehabilitation of poultry farms, cattle farms, sheep and Damascus goat farms, as well as projects transitioning to modern irrigation. The division also supported 42 projects in the industrial sector.