The Central Bank reassures Iraqis: Our foreign reserves cover imports for a full year.
The Central Bank reassures Iraqis: Our foreign reserves cover imports for a full year.
2026-10-13
Shafaq News – Erbil
The Director General of the Statistics and Research Department at the Central Bank of Iraq, Samir Fakhri Naama, announced on Tuesday that the bank’s foreign currency reserves are in a “comfortable position” and can cover the import bill for a full year, revealing that monthly government spending ranges between 9 and 10 trillion dinars, and that the recent rise in oil exports has eased the financial pressure.
This came during his participation in the ninth dialogue session of the “Miri 2026” forum held in Erbil, which was entitled “The Dinar, the Dollar and Discipline: The Central Bank of Iraq in a Turbulent World”.
Naama said that “Iraq’s external debt has witnessed a continuous decline throughout the previous years,” noting that “due to the shock resulting from the disruption of oil exports, we are going through a situation that requires evaluation and choosing between the two options: moving towards internal or external debt, which requires accurate studies and forecasts, as well as continuous consultation and coordination with financial policymakers on a monthly basis.”
He explained that “monthly government spending is limited to between 9 and 10 trillion dinars, and its financing mechanism is divided,” noting that “during this month and the previous month, we began to develop much greater flexibility compared to previous months, as the average oil exports exceeded the 2.5 million barrel per day mark, which gave the government greater flexibility in financing and reduced the direct pressure on the Central Bank.”
The Central Bank official reassured the Iraqi public regarding the cash cover, stressing that “the Central Bank is in a very comfortable position in terms of foreign reserves; while the International Monetary Fund reports indicate our ability to finance the import bill for a period ranging from 3 to 6 months, I confirm that it covers the country’s needs for a full year or more, and we will successfully overcome this crisis we are facing, which is represented by oil financial revenues.”
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