Iraq's debts exceed the $100 billion barrier... and the payment mechanisms pose a great risk

[size=52]Iraq's debts exceed the $100 billion barrier... and the payment mechanisms pose a great risk[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Rami Al-Salihi[/size]
[size=45]How will Iraq's economic future be? This question has been preoccupying the Iraqi street for years, especially after the government continued to rely on the “borrowing” approach to fill its financial deficit, year after year and most of it after 2003, amid warnings of collapse and entering the unknown with the increasing volume of external and internal debts on it.[/size]
[size=45]A dark future awaits Iraq[/size]
[size=45]There are major economic problems that Iraq has been suffering from for years, as a result of the continuous waste of money in addition to the continued spread of corruption, all of these options will negatively affect the economy, this is what the economist Ali Al-Fraiji sees, in a statement to (Al Mada).[/size]
[size=45]The economist added, "The Iraqi economy suffers from distortions that are increasing year after year, as the government does not have the ability to manage this file," noting that "these data are moving the government and parliament towards increasing the gap between state revenues and the investment budget, which in turn has reached 32 %".[/size]
[size=45]Al-Fraiji pointed out that "this number is considered frightening compared to past years and neighboring countries, and even countries that suffer from financial crises," noting that "the financial deficit in the budget will continue in the coming years as a result of the high rate of the operational budget."[/size]
[size=45]Regarding foreign loans, the economist spoke, saying that “Iraq will continue the policy of external borrowing, although these loans are globally classified as negative, considering that they fill a financial deficit in the state and do not invest in projects that benefit the economy.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Fraiji warned against the continuation of "this policy pursued by governments, which threatens to enter Iraq into a dark economic future." According to a previous statement, to the financial advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, the total foreign debt of Iraq payable ranges between 23-25 ​​billion dollars, referring to the allocation of 9 trillion dinars in the 2021 budget within debt services.[/size]
[size=45]Disclosure of the amount of debt[/size]
[size=45]In the same context, Abdul Hadi Mohan, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, said that “there are external and internal debts, and other debts during the time of the former regime, and all of them are sovereign binding on the Iraqi government, especially Kuwait,” noting that “debts began to increase since 2014 after the financial crisis, which Iraq suffered after the entry of ISIS.[/size]
[size=45]Mohan indicated, during his speech to (Al-Mada), that "the total debt exceeded 100 billion dollars," noting that "Iraq pays, according to the country's financial budget, about 14 trillion dinars annually to the borrowing countries."[/size]
[size=45]He added that “the House of Representatives is looking to stop all foreign debts and not to proceed with borrowing, because this situation is decimating the Iraqi economy,” expecting that “the government will not resort to borrowing during this period, given that international oil prices have begun to improve and are constantly rising, which may reduce the existing financial deficit.” .[/size]
[size=45]The collapse of the Iraqi economy[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, the economic expert, Salama Sumaisem, considered that "the continuation of the government's approach towards the continuation of loans, the consequences of which will be borne by future generations, which is a wrong and incorrect step."[/size]
[size=45]Sumaisem said, in an interview with (Al-Mada), that "the Iraqi government has moved towards relying on assumptions to meet consumer expenses, instead of spending it on the development field, which in turn provides financial solutions for the country."[/size]
[size=45]The economic expert added, "Iraq is obligated now and for many years to repay these loans, whether external or local, and to continue paying the interests that rise year after year," noting at the same time that "these loans will force the government in the coming years to reduce expenditures, which will be Actually, the expenses that belong to the citizen (salaries, loans, etc.).”[/size]
[size=45]And regarding the solutions that can advance the Iraqi economy that depends only on oil, Sumaisem explained, “The government should go towards an economic plan that includes changing monetary policy in the main, that is, reducing the salaries of special grades, eliminating double salaries, eliminating aliens in the state who They are a huge burden on the economy.”[/size]
[size=45]On the fears of the future collapse of the economy, the economic expert indicated that "the government's move to reduce the value of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar is conclusive evidence that the Iraqi economy is actually collapsing."[/size]
[size=45]And a number of countries affiliated with the Paris Club decided in 2004 (one of the parties condemning Iraq) to write off 80 percent of their debts owed by Iraq since the nineties of the last century, and reduced those debts from $38.9 billion to $7.8 billion.[/size]
[size=45]Iraq is suffering from a stifling financial crisis that was threatening the salaries of its employees, until the authorities decided last December 20, to reduce the value of the dinar against the dollar to 1450 instead of 1184, to contain the crisis, according to statements by Iraqi officials.[/size]
[size=45][You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]