Norway lifts ban on wealth fund investment in Syrian government bonds
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Norway decided to remove Government Pension Fund Global’s ban on investing in Syrian government bonds, marking a potential step in Syria’s reintegration into international financial markets, according to a government document seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
The internal document, released following a freedom of information request, shows that Norway’s finance ministry completed a reassessment of the fund’s government bond exclusion list. As a result, Syria has been removed from the list of jurisdictions barred from investment.
The decision was reflected in Norway’s latest white paper on the fund, presented to the Storting (parliament) on March 27, which updates the list of countries the fund cannot invest in.
The move followed a government review of ethical and sanctions considerations as part of routine evaluations of the exclusion criteria.
The Norwegian wealth fund, valued at around $2.2 trillion, is the world’s largest sovereign investment vehicle, channeling the country’s oil and gas revenues into stocks, bonds, property and renewable energy projects abroad.
Around a quarter of the fund’s portfolio is held in fixed-income assets, predominantly from markets in the United States, Japan and Germany.
While lifting the ban means the fund is no longer prohibited from holding Syrian government bonds, it does not automatically mean it will invest in them, analysts said. Fund data show it currently holds no fixed-income investments in any Middle Eastern country.
The policy change comes amid what analysts describe as early signs of Syria’s re-entry into global finance following years of war and isolation. In recent months, Damascus has taken steps such as reactivating the Syrian central bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the first time since 2011, a move seen as a signal of renewed engagement with international banking systems and foreign capital markets.