How much will $15bn IMF Loan really cost Iraq?

Tamimi criticized some ministers for boycotting government meetings. She called for the loan to be canceled, alleging that some political parties said they would only return to parliament in exchange for financial shares on behalf of their constituents.

The IMF loan is also causing new problems between Baghdad and the Kurds. On May 18, Samira al-Moussawi, a member of parliament for the ruling State of Law Coalition, accused Kurdish parliament members of agreeing to return to Baghdad only in return for their party receiving 17% of the loan. However, the Kurdistan Alliance parliamentary bloc, which was boycotting the parliament after Sadrists stormed the parliament on April 13, rejected the accusation.

"Moussawi is trying to create new problems between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region, and her accusation does not deserve a response, as she is not competent in the field of economy and does not know the details of the agreement that has been signed with the IMF," Kurdish Alliance representative Ahmed Hama, a finance committee member, told Al-Monitor. "She does not know that the loan is aimed at supporting the general budget and that the [Kurdistan] region has a share in the budget."

Hama added, "The IMF conditions on Iraq in exchange for the loan favor the government, not the citizen, as these include the removal of subsidies on the ration card, fuel and social welfare in addition to tax increases. Everyone knows this and the government cannot deny it."

But the government does deny that the conditions IMF has imposed will be difficult to meet. Parliamentary parties, however, claim the opposite.