Government: Iraq’s total imports up to USD50 bn in 2016
Saif Ali Abdullah, 19, from Mosul’s al-Shaimaa district, who fled the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul with his family, poses for a photograph at the supermarket where he works in Khazer camp, east of Mosul, Iraq, February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The worth of Iraq’s total foreign imports surged to USD50 billion in 2016, according to a government official who spoke on Tuesday.
Abdul-Zahra al-Hindawi, a spokesperson of the Iraqi Ministry of Planning, was quoted saying that Iraq’s imports of petroleum products and staple commodities surged by 18 percent from 42USD billion in 2015 to USD50 billion in 2016, an increase of 18 percent.
The official said said that resembled a growth rate of 15 percent from 2014.
Hindawi explained that petroleum imports alone stood at USD2 billion, a drop of 12 percent from 2015.
He added that non-petroleum imports through seaports stood at nearly USD43 billion, while recording nearly USD4 billion through land ports and only 100 billion Iraqi dinars through airports.