ISTANBUL (Agencies)
A senior advisor to Iraq's central bank said he was "not sure" that Iraq could meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions for a $5.5 billion loan, Emerging Markets magazine reported on Saturday.
Iraq has said it is seeking a $5.5 billion program over 18 months, which would be the largest IMF financing agreement with the new Iraq administration. There have been two previous IMF arrangements of less than $1 billion each.
 |
"Not sure" " Iraq is still in transition " Mudher Salim Kassim, senior advisor Mudher Salim Kassim, senior advisor to the Iraqi central bank, said it would take a long time for any agreement to be reached with the IMF.
"Iraq is still in transition," Kassim said.
The security situation sometimes turns upside down, so it is difficult to decide these things," Kassim said. |
|
""Confident " I am confident that we're working well together and we'll be able to identify ways to help them " Masood Ahmed, IMF However, IMF said it was "confident" about agreeing to the loan with Iraq.
"I am confident that we're working well together and we'll be able to identify ways to help them," Masood Ahmed, IMF's Middle East director, told reporters in Istanbul during annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.
"Exactly how and when is what we need to know," he added.
Iraq relies on oil exports for more than 95 percent of state revenues and desperately needs funds to rebuild the country after years of sectarian conflict and insurgency triggered by the 2003 U.S. invasion.
The country is courting foreign investors and an IMF program would also give some credibility to the government's economic policies. |
