Iraq’s foreign cash reserves reach historical levels
The Central Bank of Iraq. Photo: NRT
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – While poverty rates are increasing in Iraq, the foreign cash reserves in the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) reached historical levels.
An Iraqi official in the CBI revealed that the foreign cash reserves reached nearly 90 billion USD, and it will support the country’s general budget next year.
European traders said the Iraqi government bought about 150 thousand tons of wheat in an international tender this week, most of which is expected to come from Canada, Lithuania and possibly Australia.
Iraq succeeded in benefiting from the globally increased oil prices to build a large cash reserve expected to reach 100 billion USD by the end of this year.
The cash reserves represent an unprecedented number in the history of the CBI, and it opens prospects for the new Iraqi government to take advantage of the financial surplus to establish strategic projects supporting the country’s budgets and private sector projects, and reducing the total dependence on oil revenues which represent about 95 percent of the country’s GDP.
CBI adviser, Ihsan Al-Yasiri, mentioned that the country’s cash reserves reached 89.9 billion USD, and they are enough to finance import operations of Iraq’s needs for a period of 22 months.
The Iraqi Ministry of Planning mentioned that the government’s program focuses on tackling poverty in Iraq, noting that a quarter of Iraq’s population lives below the poverty line.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Planning, Abdul-Zahra Al-Hindawi, clarified that the ministry is preparing to launch an economic and social survey of families in Iraq during the coming period, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
Al-Hindawi explained that this survey will give new indicators about the number of people who are below the poverty line, the concentration of the poor, their conditions and the services they obtain in different ways, because the current indicators are old.
Al-Hindawi pointed out that the poverty rate in Iraq is estimated between 23 and 25 percent.
The Iraqi Ministry of Oil mentioned that the country’s exports of crude oil exceeded 3.38 million barrels per day last October.
With an average price of 88.31 USD per barrel, Iraq’s total exports of crude oil reached 104.83 million barrels during the past month.