Iraq is whitewashing its debt book... and fears of financial waste
Iraq closed the file of its debts owed to the International Monetary Fund and accumulated since 2003, with a total amount exceeding 8 billion dollars, through several loans that were aimed at supporting macroeconomic stability and implementing financial reforms.
According to the financial advisor to the Iraqi government, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, after 2003, the International Monetary Fund provided several loans to Iraq that were aimed at supporting economic stability and implementing financial reform processes between the years 2003 and 2021.
Saleh explained, in an interview reported by the Iraqi Media Agency (INA), that Iraq obtained several financing programs from the International Monetary Fund, including emergency loans and relatively long-term financial aid.
Saleh stated that since 2003, the value of loans and financial aid granted by the International Monetary Fund to Iraq amounted to $8 billion, and was repaid in full, with a focus when granting loans on implementing programs linked to supporting macroeconomic stability and implementing the necessary financial reforms. The International Monetary Fund had previously explained that Iraq needs to gradually correct its public financial conditions, to achieve debt stability in the medium term and rebuild financial reserves.
In its statement, the Fund welcomed the strong economic recovery, low inflation in Iraq, and the improvement in local conditions that led to the implementation of the first three-year budget, stressing the necessity of sound economic policies and structural reforms in Iraq to secure public finances and debts, given the regional conflicts that may affect oil prices.
At the end of last year, 2023, the International Monetary Fund stated that Iraq's economy relies heavily on oil revenues, and needs radical structural reforms to diversify sources of income and achieve sustainable growth.
Financial waste
In this context, the financial expert, Rashid Al-Saadi, said that financial waste in Iraqi state institutions exceeds 40 billion dollars annually, and that Iraq is capable of addressing this serious problem by drawing up a sound monetary economic policy and reducing levels of financial waste. Al-Saadi added to Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that Iraq was one of the founding countries of the International Monetary Fund in 1944, and has a strong position in the international financial system, due to its high confidence that enables it to achieve its economic policies and provides sustainable development opportunities.
He pointed out that the International Monetary Fund's decision not to provide Iraq with development loans comes because of the Fund's policy, which requires granting debts for the purpose of achieving sustainable development projects and not in order to pay salaries and the deficit in the state budget. Al-Saadi stated that the IMF stressed greatly the importance of Iraq’s move to rationalize its cash consumption, work to achieve new resources, and invest its natural and human resources to achieve the optimal financial output away from the financial waste occurring in state institutions.
He stressed that there are more than 100,000 employees who receive salaries without any work or production, in addition to the presence of approximately 150,000 employees who receive more than one salary, in addition to the great waste in the expenses of the government and its higher institutions. He stated that the financial waste in salaries and expenses holds the state budget at more than 40 billion dollars annually, which is a dangerous percentage that leads to significant slackness and a dangerous increase in the volume of expenditures, stressing the importance of reducing surplus expenditures and working to diversify the sources of national income for the Iraqi state.
Loan burden
The economic researcher, Ahmed Sabah, said that Iraq tried to improve its relationship with the International Monetary Fund after 2003 through the Paris Club Agreement and the resulting decisions in order to extinguish the debts incurred by Iraq before its invasion in 2003, which were estimated at around 100 billion dollars, and which passed Several stages ended in 2008.
Sabah added to Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that Iraq bore the burden of new loans at the beginning of 2014, which witnessed a rise in government expenditures on the battles to regain control of the areas that fell under the control of ISIS, and the financial problems that befell the state and a large deficit in the balance of payments. Which prompted him to request a loan from the International Monetary Fund worth $5.34 billion to meet his financial obligations.
Sabah stressed that Iraq did not sever its relationship with the International Monetary Fund, but rather the economic policy currently followed has caused the Fund to lose its confidence in it, due to the large waste of money in Iraq and the high volume of unjustified spending far from production and the multiplicity of means of national income. He stated that Iraq's economy is unstable and suffers from many fluctuations due to its total dependence on oil revenues, in addition to the state's poor economic management and its weak production performance.
Sabah stated that any decline in global oil prices will cost Iraq a lot, increase the deficit rate and raise the levels of economic risk that will result in Iraq’s bankruptcy and its reaching dangerous stages. He stressed the importance of improving Iraq's financial situation and strengthening its economic relations with international financial organizations and bodies to raise the level of confidence and confront economic crises. link