Iraq and the Kurds Are Going Broke

[yota691]

Iraq and the Kurds Are Going Broke January 15, 2016 | 

Iraqi and American officials leading the military campaign against the Islamic State now have to wrestle with a challenge that has the potential to change battlefield fortunes: the slumping price of oil.

The semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq, an oil-producing region, has racked up $18 billion in debt, which has imperiled its ability to pay state workers and security forces. This is especially worrisome since Kurdish security forces have been instrumental in rolling back the Islamic State’s advances.

The government in Baghdad, meanwhile, is scrambling to avoid a budget shortfall this year. Iraqi officials last year obtained a $1.7 billion loan from the World Bank and reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund that will allow it to obtain additional loans.

Baghdad is seeking to renegotiate with international energy companies new terms for oil contracts, which have become less advantageous for Iraq as the price of oil has crashed. And it is seeking a $2.7 billion loan from the United States to acquire military equipment.

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Unemployed men on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq. CreditAlice Martins/Associated Press

Iraq’s budget problems have rightly alarmed officials in Washington. While there is little appetite to bankroll a country where so much American money has been wasted and pilfered since the ill-conceived 2003 invasion, Iraq’s economic problems must be addressed. If they are to worsen, more Iraqis will almost certainly join the tide of refugees leaving the Middle East and the government will have a harder time rebuilding areas that Iraqi security forces have wrested back from Islamic State control.

“We’re asking our partners and allies to increase their military aid,” Lukman Faily, Iraq’s ambassador to the United States, said in an email. “Iraqis are willing to do the fighting on the ground, so it would not be unreasonable to expect the international community to provide us with the military and logistics support to effectively wage this war.”

Cash handouts like those America has provided over the years in Iraq and Afghanistan should be out of the question. But the United States could well offer the Iraqis technical advice and help the government secure access to credit from international institutions.

The International Monetary Fund agreement forces Iraq to adopt reforms that will be healthy in the long run. These include measures and policies intended to wean the country from its near-absolute reliance on oil, and slashing wasteful spending by senior government officials. Iraq is also contemplating sensible measures it has long resisted, including fighting corruption, thinning its bloated state payroll and overhauling its taxation system. “In some ways, our economic challenges are an opportunity for us to get our house in order,” Mr. Faily said.

Baghdad also must address the financial strains on the Kurdistan Regional Government. The Kurdish region, which includes three provinces, received a percentage of Iraq’s national budget until 2014, when Baghdad cut it off as part of a long-running dispute over oil revenue from fields in the north.

Desperate to pay salaries, officials in Iraqi Kurdistan have seized deposits at two branches of Iraq’s central bank, a problematic and unsustainable course. Still, the government has been unable to pay state workers on time.

Brokering a compromise to the budget dispute between the Kurdish region and Baghdad won’t be easy, because a broader fight over oil revenue in the north remains unresolved. But the United States and the international organizations that are stepping in to ease the budget crunch have significant leverage over the parties now. Allowing the dispute to drag on will make it harder to solve and give Islamic State militants breathing room.

[docneedles]

The International Monetary Fund agreement forces Iraq to adopt reforms that will be healthy in the long run. These include measures and policies intended to wean the country from its near-absolute reliance on oil, and slashing wasteful spending by senior government officials. Iraq is also contemplating sensible measures it has long resisted, including fighting corruption, thinning its bloated state payroll and overhauling its taxation system. “In some ways, our economic challenges are an opportunity for us to get our house in order,” Mr. Faily said.

 

 

 

Yes, obviously Iraq needs military and logistic support to help them with the war against ISIS, but until they do what the IMF stated above, they will always be that overspending child looking for a handout. Get your house in order!!  Stop the overspending!!!  Bring back agriculture and other exportable resources that you had before 2003. 

[calkid11]

Thank you Yota

[10 YEARS LATER]

Folks that are unable to get out of the way of their own stupidity . . . I hope the get savvy - fast, before they drop over into the Abyss.

 

1 Minute to Midnight Iraq. Get it together. The sand in your hour glass is running out quickly !!! 

[uncirculd]

They need a boost since billions have been embezzled.  It will take a bit more time to get prosecution of these crooks, but time is also of the essence since the citizens are losing patience.  I kind of look at it in some of their eyes.  They didn't see it get better when saddam outta there,  it got worse.  So, it was business as usual with the exception maliki was doing in the sunni's.   Folks took time to trust Abadi since he also is a shiite (like maliki) but he is not killing the sunni's.    Abadi is reaching across the table and in truth and fairness uniting the country of all walks.  He has taken a lot of heat from some of the diehard maliki supporters.  As they continue to hinder parliament, Abadi keeps on trucking forward with reforms.  He will make history in that country.  We are watching it in the making.    

[yota691]

New York Times: financial corruption in Baghdad bother officials in Washington

                                                                                                        16-01-2016 02:43 PM 

 

New York Times published a report on the Iraq situation and the assistance sought from Washington to her, criticizing financial corruption in Baghdad, and stressing the need for economic reforms. The newspaper said in its report that the volume of rampant corruption in the Iraq force the government to face new challenges as well as Matusbandh of war against terrorism and the decline in world oil prices, etc, the newspaper said in its report that the extent of corruption in Iraq bother officials in Washington, who confirmed their unwillingness to finance the country's wasted and stolen a lot of money since 2003, stressed the paper on the need to address the economic problems in Baghdad, showed the New York Times The government in Baghdad is seeking to the best to avoid a budget deficit this year, which forced them to agree with the International Monetary Fund to allow Absorb additional debt after she had borrowed about two billion dollars over the past year

[Boozer]

Im going Broke Too, do somethng , How can the IMF loan money to a Broke Country ,

[10 YEARS LATER]

 

New York Times: financial corruption in Baghdad bother officials in Washington

                                                                                                        16-01-2016 02:43 PM 

 

New York Times published a report on the Iraq situation and the assistance sought from Washington to her, criticizing financial corruption in Baghdad, and stressing the need for economic reforms. The newspaper said in its report that the volume of rampant corruption in the Iraq force the government to face new challenges as well as Matusbandh of war against terrorism and the decline in world oil prices, etc, the newspaper said in its report that the extent of corruption in Iraq bother officials in Washington, who confirmed their unwillingness to finance the country's wasted and stolen a lot of money since 2003, stressed the paper on the need to address the economic problems in Baghdad, showed the New York Times The government in Baghdad is seeking to the best to avoid a budget deficit this year, which forced them to agree with the International Monetary Fund to allow Absorb additional debt after she had borrowed about two billion dollars over the past year

 

Very interesting article. Most telling as well. . . a corrupt Washington bothered by a corrupt Baghdad - guess you have to "draw a line in the sand" at some point. Let's see what comes of applying pressure will lead to.

[Officiallytook]

Lmfao, gotta love it going broke...

But we have 90 tons of billion

[djgabrielie1]

Let them borrow the 100 billion that was just freed up by the lifting of sanctions against Iran their neighbor.

[NextYear]

Im going Broke Too, do somethng , How can the IMF loan money to a Broke Country ,

 

And China, just recently, is going to invest 3 Billion don't forget.  Don't think any country would do that if a country is broke and on the brink of falling apart.  Then again China built a lot of ghost cities.

Edited January 17, 2016 by NextYear

[Laid Back]

"Iraq and Kurds are going broke

Hard currency reserves 59 billions dollars

Gold reserves exceed 90 tons

Nice try New York Times

[Freedomwish]

"Iraq and Kurds are going broke

Hard currency reserves 59 billions dollars

Gold reserves exceed 90 tons

Nice try New York Times

 

Yeah, this is HOGSMASH!! 

[new york kevin]

Such are part of the goals the Saudi's stout o achieve when they chose to flood the oil market and massively lower the PPD of oil.