Bashar Assad embraces the Euro

Duraid Durgham, head of state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria said on Monday 13th Feb 2006 that Syria has switched all of the state's foreign currency transactions to euros from dollars amid a political confrontation with the United States.... Uncle Sam gets his beard tweaked again..

"This is a precaution. We are talking about billions of dollars. Switching to the euro will help us avoid settlement problems in the United Sates.The move is also needed to avoid complications with our correspondent banks, which have expressed a preference to deal in the Euro under these circumstances," he said.

The switch will involve Euro pricing for crude oil sales, the major foreign currency earner for Syria.

The latest official figures show Syria imported $6.7 billion goods in 2004 and exported $5.4 billion. Oil output is around 400,000 barrels per day. Oil has of course nearly tripled in value since 2004.

Washington imposed sanctions in 2004 that prohibited some U.S. exports to Syria, and severed financial ties with the Commercial Bank of Syria, and also froze the assets of Syrians believed linked to terrorism.

It was of course the decision of Saddam (with the approval of the UN under the Food for Oil Program) to sell oil in euros and bank the proceeds in Paris at Paribas bank that precipitated the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

That reversal of that decision and the banking of the proceeds in New York was one of the first decisions of the Coalition to be taken.

Now all eyes will be on Iran and the much heralded and discussed opening of their Euro denominated oil bourse on March 10th 2006.

Recent blogs on same topic here