LONDON (Reuters) -Syria hopes U.S. sanctions will be fully lifted in the coming months and has started the process of restructuring billions of dollars of debt amassed during Bashar al-Assad's rule, Economy Minister Mohammad Nidal al-Shaar said.
President Donald Trump ordered the lifting of most U.S. sanctions on Syria in May after meeting President Ahmed al-Sharaa, but the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 that authorises them remains U.S. law.
"We have to do some push and some lobbying to continue with this path that started in the right direction, and we're hoping by the end of the year the bill (to scrap the act) will reach the president (Trump), and hopefully he'll sign it," al-Shaar told Reuters during a conference in London.
"And once that happens, then we are sanctions-free," he said on the sidelines of the Future Resilience Forum.
HOPES FOR A REDUCTION OF U.S. TARIFFS
The act's removal will enable foreign investment, restore access to international banking and help revive key industries.
Al-Shaar hopes Washington will reduce its 41% tariffs on trade with Syria and that U.S. firms will invest in the country as the economy opens up.
Gulf countries have pledged support and Chinese firms have committed hundreds of millions of dollars, Al-Shaar said, for "big" new cement, plastic and sugar factories.
The government is on course to introduce a new currency early next year, he said.
Sources said in August that new banknotes would be issued in December, removing two zeros - and Assad's face - from the currency, to try to restore public confidence.
Syria's pound has lost over 99% of its value since the civil war began in 2011 but has been broadly stable in recent months.
"We're consulting with many entities, international organisations, experts, and eventually it will come very soon," al-Shaar said of the currency.
RECONSTRUCTION COSTS
A World Bank report on Tuesday estimated the cost of Syria's reconstruction at $216 billion, saying the figure was a "conservative best estimate".
Al-Shaar said the amount could be over 1 trillion dollars if the rebuild brought infrastructure up to date but would be spread over a long time, with the rebuilding of houses alone likely to take 6-7 years.
Asked about plans to overhaul Syria's debt burden, al-Shaar said the process had started already.
"The sovereign debt that we have, which is not very big actually, will be restructured," he said, adding that Syria would be asking for grace periods and other relief.
Assad left Syria in disarray when he was ousted last December and fighting continued in the oil-producing north until a ceasefire was struck this month.
"I'm hopeful that the next maybe few weeks, or maybe a month or two, we will reach some kind of an agreement with those who are controlling that part of Syria," Al-Shaar said.
"Once that happens, I think we will have greater ability, financial, natural resources, to really start meaningful (investment) projects," he said, predicting a "quantum leap in our GDP".
(Reporting by Marc Jones, additional reporting by Timour Azhari; Writing by Karin Strohecker; Editing by Amanda Cooper, Ros Russell and Timothy Heritage)
