Iraq reports decrease in external public debt to $20 billion: Official

“Iraq is in recovery and will definitely live in 2022 without financial hardship or financing restrictions due to a recovery in the energy market and a boom in demand for oil.”
Mazhar Mohammed Salih, financial advisor to Iraq's prime minister speaks at a conference. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)
Mazhar Mohammed Salih, financial advisor to Iraq's prime minister speaks at a conference. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi prime minister’s advisor for financial affairs, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, on Saturday said that Iraq’s external public debt has decreased to $20 billion.

The official Iraqi News Agency quoted Salih as saying that the country’s internal debt is still the largest it has ever been and over twice that of external debt.

“Iraq is in recovery and will definitely live in 2022 without financial hardship or financing restrictions due to a recovery in the energy market and a boom in demand for oil,” he added.

Salih also noted that with the current oil production trends, Iraq would generate an additional annual revenue of around 17 trillion Iraqi dinars--over $11 billion--if the average price of one barrel of oil hit $75.

“This means that for the first time, there will be a budget that achieves a fiscal surplus without the need to borrow,” he said.

Salih explained that foreign debts on Iraq have accumulated due to the war on ISIS and development projects provided by international funds worth $20 billion.

Iraq’s external debt amounted to $133 billion in September 2020. The country, which has depended on oil to finance 95 percent of its 2021 budget, plans to increase its oil exports to 3.4 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2022.