Iraq Reaches $5.4 Billion IMF Funding Accord, Minister Says
- OPEC’s second-biggest producer faces price drop, IS war
- Interest rate on IMF loan won’t exceed 1.5%: central banker
Hoshyar Zebari.
Photographer: Ahmad aL-Rubaye/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Iraq has reached a $5.4 billion, three-year loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund to help OPEC’s second-biggest producer repair public finances damaged by the plunge in oil prices and war with Islamic State militants.
The agreement will help Iraq “get more from other financing entities,” Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari told a news conference in Amman on Thursday. He said Iraq is facing “a very tough economic and financial crisis and this program will reduce the burden on us.”