World Bank confirms Iraqi economy witnessing strong recovery
The headquarters of the World Bank in Washington, D.C. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The World Bank mentioned in a statement on Monday that the Iraqi economy is witnessing a strong recovery after years of economic turmoil, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.
The World Bank’s Country Director for the Middle East Department, Jean-Christophe Carret, said that Iraq is witnessing a strong recovery after many years of turmoil, according to INA.
Carret explained that it is important to take measures to accelerate the diversification of economic activities.
The World Bank official also stressed the importance of reforming the banking sector and promoting digital financial services in order to increase financial intermediation activities and enhance financial inclusion.
Iraq’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth accelerated to 7.0 percent in 2022, driven by the tapering of OPEC+ production cuts in the first nine months of 2022.
Oil GDP, accounting for 61 percent of real GDP in 2022, grew by 12.1 percent despite the OPEC+ agreement in the last quarter of the year.
On the contrary, non-oil GDP growth was muted as non-oil industries stagnated and agriculture activities contracted due to the drought and water shortages.