Iraq plans to borrow $ 7 billion from the International Monetary and secure another 14 billion to meet its budget deficit
2016/01/27



On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said Iraq hopes to get a loan of $ 6-7 billion US from the International Monetary Fund, as the drop in oil prices that has made Iraqi government despair of external assistance to finance its war charge against Daash group.
Ebadi said that Iraq sold, last Tuesday, crude oil price of $ 22 per barrel, that is less than half the price of a barrel which was adopted in 2016 and the balance of $ 45.
Iraqi Prime Minister added that Iraq spends at least half the cost of a barrel of oil production, "To be frank with you, it is impossible to manage the affairs of the country and sustain the army and jobs and the economy. The decline in oil prices may hurt us, in fact we expect to drop the price of oil But a little big drop prices was a surprise to us. "
Said Christian Goss, head of the IMF mission to Iraq that the fund was not aware of a request financial arrangement. "I did not start to negotiate any financial arrangement, and when submitting the application we will certainly study it."
Iraq is still under the "staff monitoring" program which allows the Fund with the help of Baghdad to prepare a reliable budget and economic policy framework in order to pave the way for the financing of the International Monetary Fund.
He says Jos that the program will assist Iraq in establishing a course for the transition to a financial arrangement and with the drop in oil prices hurt the economy of countries that depend on a single source in the world, Iraq is facing another threat is a war on Daash, even with waging war without the help of ground forces American Van Abadi facing internal criticism and corrupt says he began to infect the entire country.
In Baghdad last year turned a blind eye plan to float two billion dollars in the form of bonds as investors demand very high returns. In an interview, al-Abadi said he doubts that oil prices will fall to $ 10 a barrel, which was lower than the cost of production. But it seems that the prime minister optimistic high price close to $ 50 later this year, where he said "Through my discussions here, the specialists believe that the price has come back to $ 50 a barrel. But if it continues as it is we will face trouble. Is it possible to fall to $ 20? can not be, right? "Abadi put the government's plan to address the deficit of more than $ 20 billion as stated in the 2016 budget passed by parliament. He added that the government hopes the receipt of the proceeds support the International Monetary Fund's $ 7 billion, and the withdrawal of nearly $ 7 billion of currency reserves of the Central Bank of Iraq, and to borrow another $ 7 billion of Iraqi banks.
IMF help may take some time, but Ibadi warned that the strategic benefit only if oil prices stabilized at $ 45 a barrel, he said, "This was the basic plan, enough to Tazizna, but with the current drop in prices, we need more."
Abadi acknowledged that the worst burden on Iraq's budget is a huge number of employees of government departments, and the government were not needed for more than one-third of those employees who are mostly aliens because they do not provide nothing but receive salaries, but their dismissal will "increase the instability may be the beginning of a war other. "
However Abadi hopes to reduce staff through some procedures as part of broad reforms announced last year in response to popular protests about poor service pack.
He said he sacked 123 senior official in the government was accusing them of corruption as well as the prosecution of former minister, but said that the fight against corruption will take a long time. "In the past, corruption from top to bottom, but for now, unfortunately, is everywhere like a moving horizontally. I think no A do something about corruption, many people accepted it as is normal. It has become a culture. "
for: Wall Street Journal

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