Washington, February 25: The International Monetary Fund has approved a USD 3.6 billion loan to Iraq to help the war-torn country meet pressing financial needs.
The IMF executive board approved the two-year so-called Stand-By Arrangement for Iraq “to cover the country’s balance of payments needs” after the economy was hit hard by falling oil prices in 2009, the Washington-based institution said yesterday.
About USD 455 million were made immediately available to the Iraqi authorities.
Declining oil prices last year left Iraq, heavily dependent on oil exports, with a public deficit of 20 per cent of economic output, Ron van Rooden, IMF mission chief in Iraq, said in a conference call with reporters.
The IMF-supported program is aimed at reducing the budget gap to 19 per cent of GDP in 2010 and 6.0 per cent in 2011, and posting a budget surplus in 2012.
–Agencies