IMF expects Iraq’s GDP to grow in the next five years

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) mention on Monday that the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Iraq will grow in the next five years, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

The IMF mentioned in a diagram published on its website that the annual rate for the current year will reach 9.5 percent.

The IMF indicated that the growth rate will decline to 5.7 percent in the coming year, and will grow by 2.7 percent in 2024, but it will decline to 2.6 percent in 2025, and settle at the same rate in 2027.

Earlier this month, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) revealed that its foreign reserves exceeded 85 billion USD, and indicated that it is the highest level since the US invasion of the country in 2003.

The CBI also mentioned that its gold reserves also exceeded 130.4 tons with a value of seven billion USD.

However, the oil-rich country is witnessing difficult economic conditions as the unemployment rate in Iraq reached 27 percent and the poverty rate reached 31.7 percent, according to statistics issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Planning.

Iraq is also suffering from a political crisis affecting its economy amid failure to form a new government since the parliamentary elections took place in October 2021, and consequently, failure to adopt a new budget for the country.

Last August, the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Mohammed al-Halbousi, said that there is a financial surplus of 80 trillion Iraqi dinars (50 billion USD) from oil export revenues for the current year, but these amounts are frozen and cannot be spent as the 2022 budget has not been approved.

94 percent of Iraq’s budget come from revenues of crude oil exports.