Iraq budget
outlook firms on oil's rise
Wyoming, US: 2 hours and 42 minutes ago
The
Iraqi budget outlook appears more stable given the recent rise in oil
prices above $70 a barrel, the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq
said.
'Because of the dependence of Iraq's economy on the oil sector, it
is very important that oil prices are back to a respectable level,'
Sinan Al-Shabibi told Reuters Television.
Iraqi has slashed its 2009 budget three times this year
due to
falling oil prices. They topped out around $150 just over
a year ago,
slumped below $40 this year, then rallied above $70.
'The situation now is not how
much resources you have for the budget
but the implementation side,' Al-Shabibi said on the sidelines of a
gathering of central bankers, analysts and academics from around the
world organized by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Asked whether interest rates, which the central bank cut to 7 per
cent from 9 per cent in June, could be cut further, he pointed to the
bank's recent success in reining in inflation.
The rates outlook 'depends on development and inflation and we are
happy to say we controlled inflation or lowered the core inflation ...
and this is actually what drives the interest rate,' Al-Shabibi said.
Iraq's most recent inflation figures show a rate of 7.9 per cent in
July, down from about 12 per cent in 2008, and more than
twice that
previously.
Al-Shabibi said Iraq was in discussions with the IMF and was
hoping
for more talks at the October 6-7 annual meeting of the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Istanbul.
'We had a lot of discussion on the IMF and we are more likely to go
for another program ... we will have another go in Istanbul,'
Al-Shabibi said.
'We need IMF lending and we need development lending,' he added. – Reuters
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/ECO_166158.html
outlook firms on oil's rise
Wyoming, US: 2 hours and 42 minutes ago
The
Iraqi budget outlook appears more stable given the recent rise in oil
prices above $70 a barrel, the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq
said.
'Because of the dependence of Iraq's economy on the oil sector, it
is very important that oil prices are back to a respectable level,'
Sinan Al-Shabibi told Reuters Television.
Iraqi has slashed its 2009 budget three times this year
due to
falling oil prices. They topped out around $150 just over
a year ago,
slumped below $40 this year, then rallied above $70.
'The situation now is not how
much resources you have for the budget
but the implementation side,' Al-Shabibi said on the sidelines of a
gathering of central bankers, analysts and academics from around the
world organized by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Asked whether interest rates, which the central bank cut to 7 per
cent from 9 per cent in June, could be cut further, he pointed to the
bank's recent success in reining in inflation.
The rates outlook 'depends on development and inflation and we are
happy to say we controlled inflation or lowered the core inflation ...
and this is actually what drives the interest rate,' Al-Shabibi said.
Iraq's most recent inflation figures show a rate of 7.9 per cent in
July, down from about 12 per cent in 2008, and more than
twice that
previously.
Al-Shabibi said Iraq was in discussions with the IMF and was
hoping
for more talks at the October 6-7 annual meeting of the International
Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Istanbul.
'We had a lot of discussion on the IMF and we are more likely to go
for another program ... we will have another go in Istanbul,'
Al-Shabibi said.
'We need IMF lending and we need development lending,' he added. – Reuters
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/ECO_166158.html