Bulgaria writes off much of Syria’s $71 million debt

Bulgaria writes off most of Syria’s debt

DAMASCUS, Syria — The Syrian state news agency says Syria and Bulgaria have signed a deal to write off most of Damascus’ outstanding debt to the European nation.

The SANA news agency says Prime Minister Naji al-Otari inked the agreement with his Bulgarian counterpart, Boiko Borisov, on Sunday.

Syrian Finance Minister Mohammad al-Hussein told reporters that Bulgaria agreed to write off $54 million of Damascus’ debt. He said the two sides will study ways to repay the remaining $17 million.

Al-Hussein said that with Sunday’s agreement, Damascus has settled all of its foreign debt, the bulk of which dated back to the 1980s.