An Iraqi government official confirmed today that Iraq’s external debt does not exceed 9 billion dollars.
Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, the financial advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister, said in a press statement that his country’s external debts due during the current decade do not exceed, in all cases, 9 billion dollars. He added that the general budget provides sufficient annual allocations to service all debts, which means paying installments and interest according to the nature of the debt, which is called debt amortization.
He explained that Iraq has not been in default on its external debt obligations over the past twenty years, noting that payment mechanisms are carried out in accordance with strict financial and banking rules that are highly coordinated between the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Iraq.
Mohammed Saleh concluded his statement by saying: This showed sustainable stability in the creditworthiness indicators of international rating agencies since the adoption of the first credit rating for Iraq in 2016 until the present time.
It is worth noting that Mazhar Muhammad Salih, the financial advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister, had stated in February 2023 that his country’s debts to the Paris Economic Club, which dated back to the 1990s, ranged between $128 and $148 billion, an overestimated value as some debtor countries added late fees, which is a value that does not exist or is included in the debt, according to him.
He added that the Paris Club discounted sovereign and commercial debts under an agreement with Iraq in 2004 by 80 percent, and the cancellation reached 100 percent for some countries, including the United States, Algeria, Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia.
The Prime Minister’s financial advisor added that the remaining 20 percent has been scheduled for 20 years and is scheduled to end in 2028, and the remaining amount is about $5 billion, including commercial debts issued in the form of bonds in Iraq’s name.
Iraq is seeking to cancel its debts incurred during the rule of the former regime of Saddam Hussein, amounting to more than 140 billion dollars, some of which are compensation for the wars he waged against his neighbors and the rest are commercial debts.
It is worth noting that the Paris Economic Club is an informal group of financiers from 19 of the world’s richest countries, providing financial services such as debt rescheduling, debt relief, and debt cancellation for debtor and creditor countries. The International Monetary Fund identifies the names of these countries after alternative solutions fail.