Syria appoints first female interim Central Bank governor

Syria on Monday appointed its first female interim Central Bank governor, as the country navigates through recovering its battered economy after the downfall of the Assad dynasty’s rule.

Maysaa Sabreen is the second woman appointed in a leadership role under Ahmad al-Sharaa and his Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which led Assad's ouster in an offensive in early December.

Sabreen had served as the Central Bank's first deputy governor.

She inherits a dire financial crisis following a decade of civil war, mismanagement and sanctions, which has led to the Syrian pound drastically losing its value against the U.S. dollar. The United Nations estimates that some 90% of Syrians live in poverty.