Economist suggests precautionary measures to avoid financial crisis

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Economist Samier al-Nusieri called on the Iraqi government to adopt precautionary measures to avoid the global financial crisis. “ Iraq will be among the countries which will face several economic problems if the current financial crisis continues and led to an economic recession in the U.S. and the European continent,” al-Nusieri told IraqiNews.com. He called on the economic recession in the Iraqi cabinet, the Central Bank of Iraq , the finance and planning ministries to adopt precautionary measures, mainly those regarding the banking sector. “The problems that could face Iraq as a result of the financial crisis envisages the decrease in Iraq’s oil revenues after the decrease of oil prices, which will lead to a drop in the country’s investment plans, mainly in the oil field,” he explained. The current financial crisis began more than a year ago with heavy losses sustained by financial institutions in the United States on their investments in subprime mortgages. Iraq has already lost $20 – $30 billion over the current global financial crisis, a government daily quoted the deputy chairman of the Iraq ‘s oil and gas committee as saying. According to the Al-Sabah newspaper, Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani said the losses had been caused by plummeting oil demand and prices. SH (P) 1