$100 billion annually.. Iraq’s spending exceeds the 3 most powerful economies in the world
$100 billion annually.. Iraq’s spending exceeds the 3 most powerful economies in the world
2025-03-09 01:33
Shafaq News/ The head of the Iraq Future Foundation, Manar Al-Obaidi, revealed on Sunday the rate of Iraq’s revenues and spending during the last ten years. While he indicated that the country spends $100 billion annually, which is higher than the annual spending of three countries with strong economies, he pointed out that the country’s problem is not with resources, but with the way they are managed.
Al-Obaidi said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, “Over the course of ten years, Iraq’s total revenues amounted to 1,028 trillion Iraqi dinars, with oil revenues accounting for 92% of the total revenues, while tax and customs revenues and other sources contributed only 8%.”
He added, “In contrast, Iraq spent 1,007 trillion Iraqi dinars during the same period, in addition to unliquidated loans ranging between 100-150 trillion dinars, which means that total spending exceeded 1,100 trillion Iraqi dinars, which is approximately equivalent to 1 trillion US dollars.”
He continued, “Therefore, Iraq’s annual spending rate becomes around $100 billion, which is higher than the spending rate of many developed countries, as the annual spending rate for each of the following reached: the United Arab Emirates : $65 billion, Malaysia : $82 billion , and Singapore : $77 billion .”
He stressed that ” although Iraq spends more than these countries, its GDP still depends almost entirely on the oil sector, compared to these countries that have succeeded in diversifying their economies to reach a GDP of $500 billion annually.”
He pointed out that “the great paradox lies in the fact that these three countries do not possess the enormous natural resources that Iraq possesses, nor do they possess the same size of the human population, and yet they were able to build strong and prosperous economies with budgets less than what Iraq spends, while Iraq is still suffering under the burden of oil control, the rentier economy, disguised unemployment, and many economic problems that are growing and getting bigger year after year.”
He pointed out that “the problem was never in the resources, but in the way they were managed and employed to achieve sustainable development,” adding that “Iraq needs deep economic reforms that focus on diversifying the economy, improving spending efficiency, and combating financial waste to ensure a sustainable economic future.”
He concluded his post with, “ Iraq needs five words mentioned by a famous program about development a few days ago, which are (a stable government to improve development management). Any loss of any word in this phrase will lead to the collapse of the entire sentence.”
shafaq.com
