Al-Nabaa Forum for Dialogue held a panel discussion in the capital, Baghdad, titled "Iraq's Debt and its Implied Consequences." The session was attended by MP Magda Al-Tamimi, a member of the Al-Ahrar bloc and the Parliamentary Finance Committee; Majid Al-Souri, a former board member of the Central Bank of Iraq; and economic expert Basim Jameel Antoine. The discussion was moderated by Wathiq Al-Hashimi, President of the Iraqi Group for Strategic Studies, with the participation of numerous political, academic, and economic figures, directors of research and studies centers, observers of Iraqi affairs, media professionals, and journalists.
Al-Tamimi revealed that "total external debt as of September 30, 2016, stood at $66.478 billion, including debts to member states of the Paris Club, commercial creditors, the Arab Monetary Fund, unresolved borrowing, Kuwaiti reparations, arrears to international oil companies, and energy import arrears. Meanwhile, domestic debt reached $40.703 billion, comprising equivalent treasury bills, old debt, loans from money transfer companies, Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) loans, life-term transfer bills, project transfer bills, deferred delivery documents rejected by the Ministry of Electricity, dollar transactions, Ministry of Defense transfers, the State Employees Pension Fund / national bonds / treasury bills, receipts paying farmers' dues, and arrears on investment budget projects. This means that total public debt (external and internal) as of September 30, 2016, was $120.181 billion. If new external debts are added to this figure, the total public debt rises to 120.209 billion, including International Monetary Fund loans."
It is worth noting that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meets periodically with several entities representing the Iraqi government, such as the Ministry of Oil, the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance, and the Federal Board of Supreme Audit, to review the Iraqi government's commitments before deciding whether to disburse a new tranche to Iraq. Among the IMF's conditions are: preparing a detailed statement of economic capacity; taking inventory of available funds and balances within state institutions; examining the details of dues owed to farmers and contractors; imposing taxes on salaries; freezing public sector hiring; combating corruption; subjecting Iraq's debts (both internal and external) to audit; and prioritizing payments owed to international oil companies, among other requirements.
For his part, the Head of the Al-Nabaa Forum for Dialogue, Ali Al-Talqani, stated: "There are conflicting perspectives and discrepancies in the figures presented regarding Iraq's external and internal debt. Government institutions, alongside financial analysts, differ on the actual debt figures. There is the Ministry of Finance, the legislative and oversight role, and the Central Bank of Iraq, yet all these entities have so far failed to unite in issuing a statement on the true debt figures. Therefore, we at the Al-Nabaa Forum for Dialogue deemed it essential to hold a panel discussion addressing the magnitude of debt and its future implications, enabling us to determine the true figures through the data presented by the speakers."
He added: "What matters to us here is that anxiety be dispelled across the various relevant parties, from the public sector to the private sector. Through the lens of the debt crisis and financial deficit, the symposium touched upon numerous issues affecting citizens' affairs; hence, through this program, we sought to arrive at close, if not identical, figures regarding the magnitude and risks of the debt."
He noted that "the researchers presented evidence on which they may have differed in terms of the actual debt volume, despite the fact that all speakers possess extensive specialization in the economic field."
On the sidelines of the forum, a caricature exhibition featuring a group of internationally recognised Iraqi artists was held. The exhibition displayed several paintings depicting political, social, and cultural issues, alongside a collection of publications and newspapers.