By John Lee. Iraq has received a second shipment of two new trains from China. Of the ten units ordered, this brings the total delivered to four, with the balance to be delivered by the end of the year. The total value of the contract is $138 million (161 billion Iraqi dinars). Chairman of the […]
By John Lee. A new report from the International Monetary Fund says that Iraq's economy is expected to shrink by 2.7 percent this year as a result of the security crisis in the country. This follows a 4.2 percent growth in GDP in 2013 and 10.3 percent the previous year, and would be the first […]
By John Lee. New Zealand-owned fast food outlet BurgerFuel has reportedly suspended its operations in Iraq. The company had only one store, in the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah, and before the insurgency it had given its partners approval to re-locate to Baghdad, with a re-opening planned for later this year. According to TVNZ, CEO Josef […]
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has reported that 21 banks took part in its currency auction on Monday. A total of $258,579,000 was sold at a price of 1166 Iraqi Dinars (IQD) per dollar. (Source: Central Bank of Iraq)
Throughout August 2014, Iraq Business News polled readers for their opinions on the state of Iraq. As expected, the results indicate a more challenging environment in the country over the preceding year. But while the sample size and methodology do not allow us to claim statistical significance, the results tend to show a long-term commitment […]
By John Lee. Reuters reports that oil exports from Iraq's southern terminals are "close to a record high" in October. Kurdish shipments are also reported to be increasing, despite the continuing unrest in the country. Exports from the southern terminals have averaged 2.55 million bpd for the first 23 days of October, slightly up from […]
By John Lee. The provincial councils of Karbala [Karbala] and Najaf have agreed to connect the two cities by rail. According to a report from Aswat Al Iraq, it is expected that Chinese or South Korean companies will implement the project. The intention is to facilitate the transport between the two holy cities, particularly during […]
By Patrick M Schmidt. The Dubai-based division of the Russian oil company, Lukoil announced revise production figures for the West Qurna-2 fields. The company began production in March 2014 with an output of approximately 120,000 barrels of oil per day. Current production levels are now at 300,000 barrels of oil per day. It is expected […]
By John Lee. A Northern-Irish businessman, who was jailed for stealing more than £500,000 in fraudulent VAT repayments, has been ordered to repay £113,472 or serve a further three years in prison. The man had claimed to be building water purification plants in Basra and Mosul, but didn’t have the funds to pay for the […]
By John Lee. A consortium has been awarded a $240-million engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) order from Iraq's Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works to build pretreatment facilities at a desalination plant in Basra. Japan's Hitachi and Veolia Environnement of France have won $100 million of the total, with Egyptian engineering firm ArabCo getting the […]
The United Nations has launched a US$2.2 billion appeal to address the protection and humanitarian needs of 5.2 million people in conflict-affected Iraq. “The needs of the Iraqi people are immense,” Neill Wright, acting Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, said in Baghdad. “It’s imperative we step up our efforts.” The third revision of the Strategic Response […]
By Patrick M Schmidt. After a conversation with American Defense Secretary Hagel, the new, Iraqi Minister of Defense Khaled al-Obeidi (pictured) reaffirmed his commitment to reform the Iraqi security forces in the face of the ongoing threat from the Islamic State (IS). He told Hagel that he intended to go on the offensive against IS […]
