One by one, these Muslim countries will fall under the quest to hasten the arrival of the Jewish King, the long-awaited 'messiah' of the Jewish people, and the restoration of the Jewish Kingdom between Euphrates and the Nile.
Syria Plans To Avoid Dollar, Euro in Settling Trade Deals
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Syria is planning to settle trade payments in currencies other than the U.S. dollar and euro in order to preserve its foreign exchange reserves and counter the effect of economic sanctions, the country's central bank governor was quoted as saying Thursday.
The Central Bank of Syria has proposed "a work mechanism to settle the payments with friendly countries in their own respective currencies without having to resort to the U.S. dollar or the euro," central bank governor Adib Mayaleh told a group of Syrian industrialists, according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency.
The report did not mention the countries whose currencies would be used as an alternative to the dollar and euro, though last year the central bank floated a plan to create a basket of currencies including the Russian ruble, the Chinese yuan and the Iranian rial to finance imports from those and other countries.
Russia, China and Iran have continued to back the government of President Bashar al Assad in the face of tightening international sactions.
The new proposals "would help render the effect of American, European and Arab sanctions imposed on Syria...and consequently maintain the level of foreign currencies' reserves, as well as strengthen the economic, commercial and banking bonds with these (friendly) countries," Mr. Mayaleh said Thursday, according to SANA.
Syria's Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jleilati said last September that Syria's reserves stood at around $18 billion, though U.S. officials believe they have since dropped below that level.
Last year, the Syrian government briefly introduced an import ban in order to conserve foreign exchange, but the measure was lifted after protests from the business community about rising prices.
-By Leila Hatoum, Dow Jones Newswires; +971-4-446-1686; leila.hatoum@dowjones.com; Twitter: @ZDJnews
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-28-121114ET
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/syria-pla ... 0628-00755