State Lender Reopens Personal Credit
Syria's Popular Credit Bank resumed personal lending on 1 June 2026, reopening a financing channel for limited-income employees of the public sector. The maximum loan was set at 10 million Syrian pounds (SYP) per borrower.
The bank's director general said the move marks a gradual return to lending operations after a period of restricted activity, with the program framed around employees on lower incomes.
Terms for Borrowers
Loans carry repayment periods of one to three years, with annual interest ranging from 9 to 9.5 percent depending on the term chosen. Each borrower must provide two guarantors to secure the financing.
The guarantor requirement and the fixed repayment windows give the bank a defined framework for managing its exposure as lending restarts after the pause.
First-Time Bank Guarantees
Alongside the renewed loans, the lender introduced bank guarantees for the first time in its history, a product aimed at backing commercial and contractual obligations.
It also opened financing for small productive projects and support for individual economic initiatives, widening its offering beyond consumer loans toward enterprise activity.
Deposits Set the Pace
Officials tied the scale of future lending to the bank's deposit base, saying that expanding credit depends on attracting more deposits and broadening the pool of depositors to build liquidity.
The framing signals that further growth in the loan program will track the funds the bank can gather rather than a fixed lending target announced in advance.
Credit Reaches Salaried Households
For salaried public employees, the reopening restores access to formal credit at a defined cost, an alternative to informal borrowing channels. The 10-million-pound ceiling and the capped interest set clear limits on what households can draw and what they must repay.
By adding guarantees and small-project finance to the same window, the bank positions itself to serve both household needs and modest commercial ventures as activity recovers.