Shafaq News/ Economist Manar Al-Obaidi determined the size of the internal debts of the Iraqi state and the share of each individual in it, while another economist downplayed the importance of that, stressing that the danger lies in external debts.
Al-Obaidi said in an interview with Shafaq News Agency, “Iraq’s internal debt amounts to 70 trillion dinars, and therefore the per capita share of this debt is large and amounts to one million and 700 thousand dinars per person, if we consider that the souls of Iraqis are 40 million people.”
Internal and external debts
He added, “The size of the debt per capita in the year 2020 amounted to one million and 600 thousand dinars, and in the year 2019 the debt per capita reached 950 thousand dinars, when the internal debt amounted to 38 trillion dinars.”
Al-Obaidi continued, “Iraq’s external debt ranges from 30 to 40 trillion dinars,” noting that “the total internal and external debt is approximately 110 trillion dinars.”
External debt risks
While the economist and professor at the Iraqi University, Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani, in an interview with Shafaq News Agency, downplayed the importance of Iraq’s internal debt, pointing out that “internal debt is not the dangerous element in the countries of the world, but rather external debt because the internal debt is shared by many institutions, so the issue of its influence is weak despite It is considered a debt owed by the government towards financial institutions and individuals, but not as serious as the external debt, which amounts to blatant interference.”
He explained that “the internal debt amounting to 72 trillion dinars belongs to government institutions, including the Rafidain, Rasheed and Iraqi Trade Banks and the Central Bank, and therefore it is a government debt to the government and it can cancel its banking interest or write off these debts.”
Al-Mashhadani added, “The budget contains 10 trillion dinars in interest and installments on the internal debt, and it is considered revenue for government banks. It is not this dangerous and not this large. The government has resources, and it is easy to convert this debt into bonds that can be repaid like other countries because we have cash reserves and oil resources.”
He pointed out that “the external debt amounts to 22 billion dollars, or about 29 trillion dinars, according to the official exchange rate of the dollar, and most of these debts are long-term and expire in the year 2045 and are for the Japanese government and government organizations, and some of them expire in the year 2043 and their interests are low.”
He stated that “the International Monetary Fund completely excluded Iraq from debtor countries because Iraq’s external debt is 22 billion dollars, and the Iraqi government is able to pay it off in one or two years.”
Treasury transfers
In turn, economic expert Dhargham Muhammad Ali confirmed to Shafaq News Agency, “The internal debt is not a problem and is negotiable. It is paid annually and is not affected by bank deposits.”
He continued, “Treasury transfers are often purchased by banks or individuals to finance the budget deficit or salaries in the event of a delay in the operating budget, so internal debt is within permissible limits and does not currently constitute an economic problem.”
shafaq.com
No comments:
Post a Comment