Iraq’s internal, external debts reach 76 billion USD
The financial advisor to the Prime Minister Mazhar Muhammad Salih. Photo: Iraqi News Agency
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, determined on Wednesday the total public debt of Iraq, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
Salih pointed out that debt repayment is subject to a tight financial program and regular timings, INA reported.
Salih explained that the internal debts of Iraq are about 55 billion USD, after being evaluated according to the new exchange rate of the U.S. dollar.
“Around 63 percent of the internal public debt is in a form of government bonds or treasury transfers,” Salih told INA.
“The average annual interest on the internal public debt is about three percent,” Salih elaborated.
Salih stated that the external public debt that should be paid between 2023 and 2028 ranges between 21 and 23 billion USD, which means that the total internal and external indebtedness is 76 billion USD, INA mentioned.
The financial advisor also indicated that the internal and external debts still do not exceed 35 percent of Iraq’s gross domestic product (GDP), while international standard ratios allow up to 60 percent and consider it stable.