Editing Economy of Syria (section)

===Debt===
Under Syrian President [[Bashar al-Assad|Bashar Assad]], national debt in relation to GDP went from 152.09% in 2000 down to 30.02% in 2010.<ref>[https://www.statista.com/statistics/326945/national-debt-of-syria-in-relation-to-gross-domestic-product-gdp/ Syria: National debt from 2000 to 2010 in relation to gross domestic product (GDP)]. ''Statista''</ref> Prior to the civil war, Syria attempted to ease its heavy [[Government debt|foreign debt]] burden through bilateral rescheduling deals with virtually all of its key [[creditor]]s in Europe, including Germany, France, and Russia.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Syria (05/07) |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/syria/85051.htm |access-date=June 1, 2024 |website=[[United States Department of State]]}}</ref> In December 2004, Syria and [[Poland]] reached an agreement by which Syria would pay $27 million out of the total $261.7 million debt.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Syria – Economy|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/syria/economy.htm|access-date=2021-07-15|website=globalsecurity.org}}</ref> In January 2005, [[Russia]] and Syria signed a deal that wrote off nearly 75% of Syria's debt to Russia, approximately $13 billion.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2011-09-19|title=Why Russia is blocking international action against Syria|work=Christian Science Monitor|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0919/Why-Russia-is-blocking-international-action-against-Syria|access-date=2021-07-18|issn=0882-7729}}</ref> The agreement left Syria with less than €3 billion (just over $3.6 billion) owed to Moscow. Half of it would be repaid over the next 10 years, while the rest would be paid into Russian accounts in Syrian banks and could be used for Russian investment projects in Syria and for buying Syrian products. Later that year, Syria reached an agreement with [[Slovakia]] and the [[Czech Republic]] to settle an estimated $1.6 billion in debt, in exchange for a one time payment of $150 million.<ref name=":4" />