Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has agreed six concessional development loans with Syria’s Ministry of Finance worth more than $403 million in total, to fund housing, health, energy, water, infrastructure and digital transformation projects in the country.
SFD Chief Executive Officer Sultan Al-Marshad and Syrian Minister of Finance Mohammed Yisr Barnieh put their names to the agreements, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in attendance, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) announced on Thursday.
The agency said the fund acted on the directives of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
Of the total, $90 million will pay to rehabilitate the generating units at the Aleppo Thermal Power Plant, a project SPA expects to reach around five million people. Its stated aims are to bring back the plant’s generating capacity, give residents and public facilities a stable electricity supply, back economic and industrial activity and steady Syria’s national grid.
Up to 10,000 damaged homes in different parts of the country will be repaired under a $60 million loan, which the agency linked to reconstruction work and social stability.
A $30 million agreement covers the purchase and fitting of 300,000 smart meters to upgrade drinking water services. About 1.5 million people in several governorates should benefit, and the quality of the service is expected to improve.
The largest allocation, $105 million, is for building, rehabilitating and equipping 25 civil defence centres in several governorates. More than seven million people stand to benefit, according to SPA, with the centres meant to restore and expand emergency response and disaster management in affected communities, including clearing and managing debris.
Hospitals and health centres will receive $100 million for rehabilitation, construction and new equipment. Priority facilities, among them strategic hospitals, come first, with the goal of reinstating essential and specialised care, widening access to treatment and taking pressure off hospitals already in operation.
The sixth loan, worth more than $18 million, goes to the digital transformation and institutional development of Syria’s Ministry of Finance. It funds an integrated system intended to improve the experience of beneficiaries and make government financial services more efficient and transparent.
SPA described the package as part of Saudi Arabia’s development work through SFD to raise living standards in Syria, reinforce essential services and rebuild infrastructure, so that communities gain better access to sustainable basic services.
The Kingdom had already given Syria two grants through SFD in September 2025, to fund crude oil supplies and to pay part of government employees’ salaries for three months.
