Tishwash: A significant decline in the volume of foreign loans, and Iraq is in the green side in international credit standards.
Iraq’s external financial policy has improved its global credit rating, with external debt declining to approximately $10 billion. Despite the rise in domestic debt, economists assert that it poses no risk, thanks to the government’s ability to set interest rates and schedule repayments.
The Iraqi government’s foreign financial policy appears to be improving, as evidenced by a decline in foreign borrowing rates. This decline raises Iraq’s global credit rating, which is based on the size of the debt and the country’s ability to repay interest.
Economist Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani says, “The decline in external debt is a positive indicator, and it is not measured in this year, but rather over the past three years, when it fell to less than $30 billion, putting Iraq in the green.”
Meanwhile, figures show an increase in the value of domestic debt, which the government has borrowed from financial institutions to finance projects and cover the financial deficit in the annual budgets. However, economic readings confirm that domestic loans do not pose a risk, given that the government determines the interest rate and carefully sets the repayment schedule. However, they remain within the framework of debt that must be repaid. Based on this, the Parliamentary Finance Committee emphasizes the need to deal with the available financial liquidity.
Finance Committee member Moein Al-Kadhimi said, “Based on what the government has at its disposal, it must act within its limits. This way, there is no budget deficit, there is ongoing funding for projects, and no new projects are initiated, while simultaneously funding the operating budget.”
The size of foreign loans amounts to approximately $10 billion, which currently places Iraq at a (B-) rating, given that the size of foreign loans for 2023 exceeded $20 billion. This means that this decline is attributed to the government’s good handling of foreign loan repayments, placing Iraq at a better credit rating than before. link
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Tishwash: Kurdistan employees’ salaries will be paid within the next two days.
An informed government source revealed, today, Sunday (June 29, 2025), that the federal government will pay May salaries to Kurdistan employees within the next two days.
The source told Baghdad Today, “The federal government will pay the salaries of the region’s employees within the next two days, even before the oil agreement is finalized, for humanitarian purposes.”
He added, “If an oil agreement is reached between Baghdad and Erbil, the audit and accounting department of the federal Ministry of Finance will review the lists sent by the regional Ministry of Finance, and within days, will release the June salaries.”
He pointed out that “the federal government delegation pledged that the region’s salaries would be paid monthly, along with those of employees in other Iraqi governorates, without a single day’s delay, subject to the oil agreement and the delivery of 50% of domestic revenues, provided they are digitally deposited into the Ministry of Finance’s bank account daily.” link
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Tishwash: Iraq’s trade landscape: The private sector accounts for the largest share of imports.
The Central Bank of Iraq announced, on Saturday, statistics on the volume of Iraq’s imports for the first quarter of 2025.
The bank stated in its statistics that “Iraq’s imports amounted to $21 billion and 363 million,” indicating that “imports included both the government and private sectors.”
He added that “government sector imports amounted to $1.377 billion, while private sector imports amounted to $19.985 billion.”
He pointed out that “government imports included consumer imports, capital imports, petroleum product imports, other government imports, and currency printing,” while “private sector imports included consumer imports and capital imports.” link
