Moody’s: Iraq’s fiscal deficit is expected to reach 4% in 2019
Moody’s: Iraq’s fiscal deficit is expected to reach 4% in 2019
03 Oct 2019 02:18 PM
A report issued by the credit rating agency “Moody’s” that the credit file of the Government of Iraq is stable, noting that it will remain dependent on oil revenues, which is expected to decline in the medium term.
The Moody’s report published on Thursday, that oil production and exports are two of the main factors of economic growth in Iraq and the main source of financial and current account revenue.
Moody’s expects Iraq’s fiscal deficit to be around 4 percent of GDP in 2019-20 after a surplus of 7.9 percent in 2018.
Oil accounts for 99 percent of merchandise exports, more than 90 percent of government revenues and more than 60 percent of economic output.
The agency said it did not expect Iraq to reduce its dependence on oil production and the sensitivity of oil price fluctuations significantly in the next five years.
It also suggested that the current account balance would gradually deteriorate to 2 percent of the GDP deficit by 2020, after a surplus of 5.8 percent and 0.8 percent of GDP in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
mubasher.info
