Efforts to restore Iraq's assets abroad

2/20/2017 0:00

BAGHDAD / Shokran Fatlawi
Stressed some of the money, the economy and policy experts at a seminar organized by the "Institute for the progress of policy development" on the need to release the details of the internal and external debt owed by Iraq, both those that date back to the time of the former regime or those that borrowed the government in recent years, with an indication of trends that debt and its goals.

And initiated the seminar, which was led by Dr. Mehdi al-Hafez and attended the "morning" speech in which he said that Iraq today has two choices key sectors first the continuing desire to obtain external financial support by the agreement, which took place in the Paris Club in 2004 and committed Iraq whereby some foreign debt and the second is the search for Iraq's money and restore response national interests.

He added that the World Bank loans and the Islamic Development Bank and the European Union, Japan, traditional for some of the Gulf countries and the debt stand in the external financial dealings of Iraq, wondering at the same time about the possibility of abandoning loans and reliance on vulnerable local resources with the exception of oil revenues, which account for the largest space in the financial coverage of the State.

For his part, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister Dr. The appearance of Mohammed Saleh, said that the country succeeded in 2004 by writing off about $ 100 billion of its debts against the backdrop of the signing of the Paris Club agreement .

Which replaced under which sovereign debt owed by Iraq to the group of approximately 65 countries, including 19 countries within the club and 46 countries outside as the Convention applies to $ 19 billion in commercial debt, under which debt reduction of up to $ 35 million and agreed to their owners to be reduced have been reimbursed about $ 4 billion out of the religion of $ 19 billion in debt trading, while the large debt has undergone other Paris Club agreement to the judge at a discount of 80 percent on the remainder are scheduled over 18 years to pay semi-annual installments.

Financial Advisor to the Prime Minister pointed to the larger problem, which is still in existence until the moment of debt outstanding for the Gulf States, which Tkdrbenho $ 41 billion despite the fact that some of this debt is not real, which halted its benefits under the Convention since 2007 after Iraq's agreement to settle all its debts where we stayed for the debt stuck in religion books, and some of them were former regime military aid.

And oriented himself Saleh stressed the need for caution in dealing with the debt profile even to contact the chaos stage, pointing out that the debt will be subject to an external auditor in accordance with international standards for the release of debt precise and detailed status report will be issued during the coming period, while stressing the need to reconsider Convention " Paris Club "before the 2020 start repay what may expose the country to a crisis in the year 2022 date through move through diplomatic channels that includes all debt pre-2003 onwards, especially with the presence of countries lent the former regime about violation of UN resolutions during the economic blockade and re-negotiate with all countries that have a debt dating back to the former regime.

Collect and present at the end of the seminar on the need to discuss the details of the debt profile of the framework for transparency with the importance of working through government striving toward debt reduction or cancellation and cancellation of being one of those tasks relating to the debts of the Gulf states, which did not benefit the Iraqi economy, especially.

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