By John Lee. The Iraqi parliament has reportedly authorised borrowing of up to $5 billion (Dh18bn) from abroad after the fall in oil prices caused a financial crunch. According to The National, the vote came a few days rating agency Fitch forecast the economy to shrink 9 per cent this year and debt to skyrocket. […]
From Middle East Monitor, under a Creative Commons licence. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq asks IMF for debt deferment due to coronavirus crisis The economic and finance adviser to Iraq's Prime Minister has revealed that talks are taking place […]
By John Lee. Iraq is well positioned to service its debt obligations, according to an article in Australia's Investor Daily. Responding to the question "what’s your view on bonds issued by Iraq’s government?", Mark Baker writes: "Iraq is a net external creditor, meaning its external assets are greater than its external liabilities. That means the […]
By John Lee. Simon Hinrichsen, a PhD student at the London School of Economics (LSE), has published an analysis of Iraq's sovereign debt over the years. The full 51-page report can be downloaded here. (Source: LSE)
Iraq has paid back more than $20 billion in foreign debt, the head of the parliamentary finance committee Haitham Al-Jubouri has said. “Iraq’s foreign debt amounted to more than $50 billion. More than $20 billion was paid back over the last period,” Al-Jubouri told the Iraqi news agency. According to the official, Iraq still owes […]
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, which includes exempting Iraq from 75% of its debts within the support funds provided to Arab countries, scheduling the remaining amount and paying for its contributions to the budget of the General Secretariat of the […]
By John Lee. The Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies has just published a new report from our Expert Blogger Ahmed Tabaqchali. Entitled "Understanding Iraq’s debt: An overview of its status, outlook and origins", the report argues that much of that debate about Iraq's debt is out of context, mixes loosely related facts and figures […]
By John Lee. Following Iraq's successful return to the bond markets earlier this year, it is now reportedly planning a $2 billion sovereign bond issue in 2018. The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), Dr. Ali Mohsen Ismail Al-Allaq [Alak] (pictured), told Reuters that the plan is currently awaiting parliamentary approval. He added […]
By John Lee. Iraq opened the books yesterday on its first independent bond sale in a decade. "Investor demand was huge," writese Marcus Ashworth at Bloomberg. "The deal was seven times oversubscribed." The $1-billion, dollar-denominated bond, maturing in March 2023, was expected yield 7 percent, but demand enabled that to be cut to 6.75 percent. […]
By John Lee. The Financial Times reports that Iraq has appointed Citi, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan as joint bookrunners for a new five-year government bond. The issue is described as a dollar-denominated, long-dated, benchmark-scale bond; investor meetings scheduled over the coming days. In January, Iraq raised $1 billion of five-year bonds, guaranteed by the US, […]
Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Iraq's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Stable from Negative and affirmed the IDR at 'B-'. The Country Ceiling has been affirmed at 'B-' and the Short-Term Foreign-Currency IDR at 'B'. KEY RATING DRIVERS The revision of the Outlook reflects the following key rating drivers: Iraq's fiscal […]
Iraq has successfully closed on its offering of a $1 billion sovereign bond issuance guaranteed by the United States of America. This loan guarantee underscores the strong and enduring commitment of the United States to support the government of Iraq in this critical moment in the fight against Da’esh. As part of a comprehensive international […]
