The Iraqi Central Statistics Agency revealed the high internal debt of Iraq and the erosion of foreign exchange reserves during the first quarter of this year 2020, in light of the repercussions of the new Corona virus pandemic and the global drop in crude oil prices. The internal public debt reached about 43.4 trillion dinars (equivalent to 36 billion dollars) during the first quarter, compared to 38.3 trillion dinars in the last quarter of last year.
The report showed that foreign exchange reserves decreased by 12.5 percent on a quarterly basis, during the first quarter of this year 2020, to $ 57.5 billion, opposed to $ 65.75 billion in the last quarter of 2019. The decline in foreign exchange reserves coincided with a decline in oil revenues, the most prominent source of revenue for Iraq, and an increase in expenditures, including the salary bill.
On 12 November, the Iraqi parliament approved the internal and external borrowing law worth 12 trillion dinars (10 billion dollars), in an effort to end the crisis of delayed payment of state salaries. This is the second time that the government has asked Parliament to grant it the authorization to borrow, with the aim of securing operating expenses, on top of which are the salaries of employees. On June 24, parliament approved a bill that allowed the government to borrow 15 trillion dinars (12.5 billion dollars) internally, and 5 billion dollars abroad to cover the fiscal deficit.
Source (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed Newspaper, Edited)
