Iraq is on course to draw on its next tranche of $825mn from the IMF’s three-year standby arrangement (SBA) of $5.34bn, following the IMF’s completion this week of the SBA’s second review. Total disbursements to Iraq under the loan facility, approved in July 2016, will thus rise to $2.11bn.
But despite relatively strong compliance with the IMF program so far, endemic issues in Iraq are not going to be solved any time soon. Corruption for instance remains a major problem despite repeated calls from Prime Minister Haidar al-‘Abadi for its eradication. He told a conference in Sulaimaniyah in the Kurdistan Region earlier this year that there is a clear link between corruption and terrorism as people become disillusioned with state institutions and seek alternatives (MEES, 10 March). (CONTINUED - 761 WORDS)
