IMF Art IV report

[rockfl9]

IF you  look at the summary spreadsheet attached to the report you would see that Iraq is in trouble.  The IMF team has been telling them to cut spending . That means shrink the government cut subsidies and entitlements ..   But any of those moves threatens the status quo. Akin to stepping on the third rail.  While there is a projected increase in GDP it comes at the expense of increased national debt USD 115 Bn in '19 to 167 Bn in 2024. It would be worse except that they cover parts of the deficits by raiding the CBI reserves. At the same time the CBI increases  total IQD by 5% each year, 

Although the numbers after 2019 are projections , the IMF team have been pretty good with them so far. 

concern should be that if they are correct Iraq will be a basket-case after 2024. They will again be asking for debt relief .