BAGHDAD — On a recent afternoon, bursts of drilling and the clamor of jackhammers cut sharply across Baghdad’s soundscape, piercing through the usual car horns and birdsong. Twenty years after an American-led invasion plunged Iraq into conflict, a real estate boom is changing the face of this historic capital city, as construction workers demolish old brick houses and clear
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According to the new budget, Erbil will now have to deliver no less than 400,000 barrels of oil per day to Baghdad before it can receive its share of the federal budget. [Getty] On June 21, 2023 Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid ratified the country’s long-awaited three-year federal budget bill. On June 11, the bulk of MPs had voted for a three-year budget bill of around 19
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After eight months in office, the Iraqi prime minister can point to a period of calm, increased foreign investment and a building boom in Baghdad as signs that his country is moving in the right direction. Onlookers are concerned, however, at the disproportionate economic influence of Iran and the government’s lackluster effort to stem corruption. BY ARAB DIGEST
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Iraq’s economy is overwhelmingly dominated by the oil sector. According to the World Bank, over the last decade oil revenues have accounted for more than 99% of exports, 85% of the government’s budget, and 42% of GDP. Despite the strong rebound of the economy after the pandemic thanks largely to high oil prices and increased export volumes that last year drove oil revenues
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Analysis: Iraq’s new budget may hamper more than it helps. By Hamzeh Hadad This year’s budget is Iraq’s largest at 198.9 trillion dinars ($153bn) with the same allocated for 2024 and 2025. The Iraqi Council of Representatives passed the 2023, 2024 and 2025 federal budgets on June 12, nearly eight months after Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani’s new government wa
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