At a currency exchange in Damascus, Anas al-Shammaa is one of many Syrians hopeful that promised relief from Western sanctions will help revive their country's economy after years of war and isolation.

"We were totally cut off from the world," said Shammaa, 45, who has been running the exchange shop since 2008.

With the lifting of sanctions, "we hope that the Syrian economy will start to recover both gradually and quickly", he told AFP.

Syria's economy plunged into crisis during the years of civil war, which erupted in 2011 with former ruler Bashar al-Assad's brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Western countries imposed crippling sanctions on Syria, including on dealing with financial institutions linked to Assad's government, and froze the central bank's assets.

Last week, more than five months after Assad's ouster, Washington announced it would lift sanctions on Syria, and on Tuesday the European Union said it would also remove economic restrictions, sparking hope among Syrians of an economic reboot.

But experts have warned it will take time to see real relief, with the new authorities also needing to take steps to attract........

© Al Monitor