Sabah Sobhi: The oil and gas law is still in the drafting process
31/08/2023
Sabah Sobhi - The oil and gas law is still in the drafting processThe Parliamentary Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee revealed today, Thursday, that the draft oil and gas law, which has been stalled for years, is still in the process of “writing its draft.” Reliance that the law will be approved in the current parliamentary session if it is completed by the government.
Committee member Sabah Sobhi told Al-Sabah newspaper, followed by NRT Arabia, that “the oil and gas law is still in the process of writing its draft, which is the first stage in the enactment of any law, as this law needs a comprehensive political consensus, as it is a sensitive law that needs In-depth study and discussion by political parties.
Sobhi explained, “The law includes many dimensions, the most important of which is the economic dimension, which is the most important, because the enactment of this law leads to the structuring of the Iraqi economy, and the second dimension is the legal one because until now there is a legal vacuum with the existence of a constitutional article related to oil that requires the enactment of a law of its own.”
He added, “As for the third dimension, it is political, given that the issue of the oil commodity is very important from a political point of view, as it is the main revenue on which the economy and the Iraqi state depend, because 90% of the country’s budget depends on oil imports, so we need to legislate this law, and another after It is the technical dimension because oil is full of techniques from exploration until we reach sale, so we are in the process of enacting an important, complex, sensitive and fateful law for Iraq.
Adviser to the Prime Minister: Iraq has not recorded any failure in the timing of the payment of its debts
2023-08-31
Adviser to the Prime Minister - Iraq has not recorded any failure in the timing of the payment of its debtsWednesday, the Advisor to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, considered the World Bank’s estimate of Iraq’s debts at more than $150 billion exaggerated and unreal, and while confirming the high creditworthiness of Iraq, he indicated that no failure was recorded in the timing of debt repayment in more than a decade. from time.
Salih said in a press statement, “The issue of the Iraqi public debt requires a professional distinction of its history and details, and not taking its numbers on their minds without a clear logical analysis. When evaluated in foreign currency, it is estimated at about $54 billion, while the external debt payable until the year 2028 is estimated at about $23 billion, and there are debts due after the year 2028, so the external debt becomes about $30 billion.
He added, “There is a debt pending on the Paris Club agreement of 2004, i.e. sovereign debts before 1990 belonging to four Gulf countries and four other countries, which are about $40 billion, and if they are activated, if they are correct (because they are, as the economic terminology termed, reprehensible debts because they financed the Iraq-Iran war.” At that time, if it is correct again, it must be deducted by 80% or more under the Paris Club agreement for the year 2004, to be less than $ 9 billion or less.
And Saleh continued, commenting on what the World Bank mentioned in its new report that Iraq’s debt exceeds 150 billion dollars: He said, “We do not know the method of calculating the debt in the World Bank report. Aside from it, for the external debt to reach 50 billion dollars, as an expectation of the total internal public debt early, which was not achieved, and therefore the reading of Iraq’s internal and external debts, according to what was published by the World Bank, came to be about 152 billion dollars, and this is exaggerated rather than being At about $84 billion (excluding the balance attached to the Paris Club agreement as an abhorrent debt) and what has been published about debt balances is unreal and discretionary.
He pointed out, “Nevertheless, the public debt-to-GDP ratio, even in light of its unjustified inflation, will remain between 54-57% of the estimated GDP for the year 2023, and it is within the current safe economic stability area, which is usually estimated at about 60%.”
And the advisor to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs warned, “The financial policy in Iraq adopts a highly disciplined system in adjusting the timing of payment of debt dues (annual installments and interest) or when extinguishing the debt once on its annual due dates, and there are fixed and accurately estimated annual allocations that are monitored in the budget.” The public early to pay debt services and dues, especially Iraq’s foreign debts, and no failure has been recorded in Iraq during a decade and a half, and this is what made Iraq’s credit worthiness high, as Iraq is located within Area B in the global credit rating tables that are evaluated by international credit rating companies. Known and periodically since 2015 until today.
Saleh explained, “The vast majority of internal public debt is in the possession of government financial institutions or the government banking system, which is an (exclusive) internal governmental matter. There is a strategy in dealing with this debt, especially since the monetary authority currently acquires about 64% of the total internal debt and has the ability to In managing it in coordination with financial policy and with high accuracy, bearing in mind that the banking system annually obtains interest on that debt at a rate of 3%, and it falls within the annual allocations of the general budget.
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