A document has shown that Norway will lift the ban on its $2.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund’s investments in Syrian government bonds, in a further sign of Damascus’s return to the global financial scene after the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad.
At the same time, the Scandinavian country intends to prevent the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund from investing in Iranian government bonds, in a somewhat symbolic move given the already stringent sanctions imposed on Iran.
The decision, revealed in a previously unpublished government document, indicates support for the government of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, which took power in late 2024, reports Al-Rai daily.
The government is seeking to rebuild state institutions, the economy, and international trade after a civil war that lasted more than a decade, as well as sanctions and financial isolation. The most stringent US sanctions were lifted in December.
Major investor
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund invests the country’s oil and gas revenues in stocks, bonds, real estate and renewable energy projects abroad.
Currently, 26.5 percent of the fund’s investments are allocated to fixed-income instruments, mostly in the United States, Japan and Germany.
An internal document disclosed to Reuters under a Freedom of Information request indicates that the Norwegian government prohibits the fund from investing in certain government bonds. However, the list is subject to change.
The minutes of a meeting held on January 28 between the Ministry of Finance and the IMF’s Ethics Supervisory Board stated that “the Ministry… was informed that a new assessment had been conducted to identify the countries covered by the ban on (investment in) government bonds.”
