VOL. XLVI

No 2

13-January-2003

SYRIA

Syria Passes Expansionary Budget With 18% Increase In Expenditure

The Syrian Parliament has approved an expansionary budget for 2003 which forecasts an 18% increase in expenditure to S420bn ($9.13bn at a rate of $1=S46), from S356bn ($7.7bn) in 2002 (MEES, 14 January 2002). The document has been ratified by President Bashar al-Asad. Revenues for 2003 are forecast at S294.7bn ($6.4bn), up 18.4% from S249bn ($5.4bn) in 2002. The shortfall between expenditure...