Iraq Budget Battle Looms as Saddam-Era Bond Plan Falters
- Lawmakers approve ex-spy chief as premier amid debt help calls
- Yield on nation’s bonds has almost doubled in last two months
Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi speaks in Parliament, in Baghdad, on APril 6.
Source: Iraqi Parliament/Getty Images
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As Iraq inches toward the formation of a new government, the risks are stacking up for OPEC’s second-biggest crude producer.
Beyond the country’s long-standing sectarian tensions, frayed relations with the Kurdish north, a bloated public wage bill and endemic corruption, new Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi now has to grapple with a collapse in oil revenue and the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.