Gold, deposits, and the share of project finance loans in the Central Bank of Iraq’s assets rise.
Gold, deposits, and the share of project finance loans in the Central Bank of Iraq’s assets rise.
2025-08-27 04:25
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The Iraq Future Foundation for Economic Studies and Consultations said on Wednesday that the distribution structure of the Central Bank of Iraq’s assets witnessed significant changes between 2022 and 2025, as the percentages of contribution of different categories to total assets shifted over the years.
The institution stated in a report published today by its chairperson, Manar Al-Obaidi, that while securities maintained their position as the largest component of assets at 27% in 2025, this percentage represents a significant decline compared to 2022, when it stood at 37%.
Gold reserves recorded a significant jump, rising from 6% in 2022 to 12.6% in 2025, reflecting a trend toward strengthening hard assets within the central bank’s reserves, according to the report.
Similarly, the ratio of central bank deposits with other banks rose to 26%, compared to 24.7% in 2022.
In contrast, the contribution of receivables owed by the Ministry of Finance declined from 26.7% to 24.9% in 2025, but it still represents nearly a quarter of total assets, reflecting the Central Bank’s continued reliance on these receivables as a key component.
The share of SME financing loans also increased from 5% to 7% by 2025, indicating support for this development trend.
Given these indicators, foreign investments and deposits in foreign banks continue to constitute the largest component, despite their decline, reaching 53% of total assets in 2025 compared to 62% in 2022, due to the increased share of gold in reserves.
On the other hand, loans and receivables granted—both to the Ministry of Finance and for project financing—which represent approximately 32% of total assets, pose a challenge to the Central Bank’s structure. More than a third of its assets consist of loans or receivables from other entities, most notably the Ministry of Finance, whose actual value has not declined, but rather their proportion has declined as a result of the expansion of total assets.
shafaq.com
