Finance Ministry: Iraq maintains its credit rating

 
 
Baghdad-INA
 
The Ministry of Finance confirmed on Tuesday, that Iraq has maintained its credit rating.
 
The ministry stated, in a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "In the latest report of the Standard & Poor's Credit Rating Agency (S&P), Iraq maintains its credit rating at B - / B with a stable future outlook, with an emphasis on financial and economic stability, according to the report." Indicating that "the new classification came as a reflection of the policy of continuous economic and financial reforms pursued by the Ministry of Finance, in addition to maintaining the level of foreign currency reserves that exceed the external public debt and fulfilling other external financial obligations as a result of the stability of crude oil prices."
 
 
The statement added, "The report relied in its classification on several indicators, the most important of which are: the Iraqi Parliament's approval of the tripartite budget for the years (2023, 2024, and 2025), which aims to revive infrastructure projects and economic needs," noting that "the formation of the government at the end of 2022 led to a state of political stability."
 
 
"The report confirms that forecasting a significant surplus in the current account, within the economic outlook, will add to the basically strong foreign currency reserve, thereby strengthening Iraq's external debt servicing capabilities over the next 12 months,” the statement continued.
 
It also noted that "(S&P) report predicts that economic growth will reach 2.6% annually, in 2023 - 2026, which is linked to the increase in oil production and its implications for growth in the non-oil field, together with the fall in annual inflation rates to 4% in July 2023 after being 5-6% in 2021 and 2022, which is due to government measures in currency revaluation, price control and government support for food and energy prices. "
 
The report indicated, according to the statement, ""the possibility of improving Iraq's credit rating in the event of high economic growth, diversified public financial revenues of the oil and non-oil State, increased per capita income and continued fiscal and economic policy reform."