A group of experts from the International Monetary Fund issued, after their visit to the Jordanian capital, Amman, last week, an analytical paper on the economic situation in Iraq.
The Fund published on its website an article stating: “A team of International Monetary Fund experts, led by Tokhir Mirzoev, visited Amman, Jordan, during the period 24-31 May, with the aim of discussing the latest developments and economic prospects with the Iraqi authorities, as well as discussing policy plans in the coming period.
He added, “The growth momentum of the Iraqi economy has slowed down in recent months. After oil production recovered last year and restored to the level it reached before the outbreak of the Corona pandemic, production is expected to contract by 5 percent in the year 2023 in light of OPEC +’s decision to reduce the volume of production.” Oil production, and the interruption of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
He pointed out that “the fluctuations in the market of foreign exchange rates following the application of the Central Bank of Iraq to more stringent controls to combat money laundering and terrorist financing on sales of foreign currency had a negative impact on the non-oil sectors based on imports.”
And he continued: “It is estimated that the non-oil real GDP contracted by 9 percent (on a comparative annual basis) during the last quarter of the year 2022, which canceled the growth achieved during the first three quarters of the year. And with signs of stabilization of the currency market In light of the measures taken by the Central Bank of Iraq, real non-oil GDP is expected to resume growth, reaching 3.7 percent in 2023. After the inflation rate rose to 7 percent in January, inflation began to moderate. In a way that reflects the decline in commodity prices at the international level and the increase in the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar by 10 percent, and the inflation rate is expected to reach 5.6 percent on average during the year 2023.
This article was originally published by RT.
