Hundreds of factories closed in Syria under HTS rule: Report

Under the current al-Qaeda-linked administration, hundreds of factories and plants have been closed across multiple provinces in Syria, driven by lack of security, electricity shortages, and illegal foreign imports, a new report reveals.

Over the past three months, Syria’s industrial sector has suffered severe setbacks, with around 420 factories, plants and workshops shutting down across key provinces, including Aleppo, Damascus, Latakia, Tartous, and Homs.

The closures followed the rise to power of foreign-backed militants, led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, in Damascus on December 8, when the government of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was unseated following a rapid two-week onslaught.

According to industrialist Ahmed Anqa, the lack of security has worsened the situation, with unidentified gunmen looting industrial sites like Sheikh Najjar in Aleppo, Hasiya in Homs, and Adra near Damascus. Additionally, unreliable electricity and a sharp increase in diesel prices to 30 percent since the fall of Assad -have driven up production costs.

Syria’s struggling manufacturers now face fierce competition from cheap foreign imports, particularly from neighboring Turkey, which flood the country without government oversight.

Anqa added that smuggled goods, priced at the black-market exchange rate, undercut local producers relying on the Central Bank's official rate, while the HTS-led administration's electricity cuts further strain businesses facing rising costs.

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Furthermore, the economic crisis has worsened with mass public sector layoffs, including the dismissal of 12,000 employees from Latakia province and the indefinite leave of 500 workers at the General Company for Iron and Steel Products, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Monday.

According to a report by Syria TV, up to half a million state employees could face job cuts as part of the HTS-led administration's shift toward a “competitive free-market economy.”

“The goal is to balance private sector growth with support for the most vulnerable,” interim Minister of Finance Basil Abdel Hanan told Reuters.

These sweeping reforms, which include privatizing state-run enterprises and removing “ghost employees,” have sparked widespread concern.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has begun communications with Syrian officials, raising fears that the country might fall into debt traps unless it focuses on production, exports, and building its dollar reserves.

“Syrians should do everything possible to steer clear of the IMF's debt traps and those of other lenders – whether states or financial institutions. They must strive to avoid the mistakes made by countries that prioritized borrowing over production, exports, and building up their own dollar reserves,” Qatari outlet The New Arab warned last month.

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