Iraq Economic News and Points To Ponder Sunday Morning 12-28-25
Idle Wealth, Not Imminent Bankruptcy: A Financial Expert Refutes 2030 Scenarios And Reveals To Iraq Observer The Strengths Of The Iraqi Economy.
December 20, 2025 Baghdad/Iraq Observer Parliamentary warnings that Iraq could face total bankruptcy by 2030 if current spending mechanisms continue have sparked a wave of controversy in economic circles, amid questions about the true state of the country’s finances and its actual ability to overcome upcoming challenges.
In response to these statements, Mustafa Hantoush, who is concerned with financial and banking affairs, confirmed that Iraq is considered one of the very rich countries, stressing that talk of bankruptcy is not based on realistic data as much as it is related to financial mismanagement.
Hantoush explained to Iraq Observer that “the Iraqi government, as a central government, owns more than two-thirds of the country’s land, in addition to factories, plants, and extensive real estate assets owned by the state, as well as long-term contracts with millions of citizens, which constitutes a large economic base that has not yet been optimally invested.”
He added that “Iraq does not rely solely on its visible resources, but also possesses enormous underground wealth, including oil, gas, and rare minerals,” stressing that “these capabilities make the country a nation capable of rapid recovery if it has an efficient financial administration that invests revenues correctly and seriously combats corruption.
” Hantoush pointed out that “economic studies confirm that Iraq, which has an area of about 430,000 square kilometers, has a high percentage of land suitable for development, as about 80% of its area is usable, while only about 8% of it has been invested in the fields of housing, agriculture and industry, which opens the door to broad development opportunities.”
According to experts, these data reflect that the real challenge facing Iraq does not lie in the scarcity of resources or the risk of bankruptcy, but rather in how to manage and invest wealth, in a way that transforms great potential into development projects that guarantee a decent life and economic stability for future generations.
https://observeriraq.net/ثروات-معطلة-لا-إفلاس-وشيك-خبير-مالي-يف/
The Numbers Don't Lie: $340,000 Is The Share Of Every Iraqi In The Wealth Among The Resource Giants... Where Is It?
Baghdad Today – Baghdad Visual Capitalist's global ranking of countries with the most natural resources,
based on per capita wealth, places Iraq sixth on the list of "resource giants."
According to the data, Iraq's per capita wealth is approximately $340,000,with an estimated value of its natural resources at around $16 trillion, and a population of approximately 47 million.
[https://baghdadtoday.news/uploads/posts/2025-12/medium/3b56f0accf_111.jpg]
This classification doesn't reflect actual income earned by citizens,nor readily available funds in the treasury, but rather the "estimated value" of natural resources relative to the population.
In other words, it measures the potential of the country: its underground and above-ground wealth, and how each individual's share would appear if this value were theoretically distributed among the population.
Therefore, a high figure can simultaneously be an "economic promise" and a "painful question": why doesn't this abundance translate into a more stable life, stronger services, and wider job opportunities?
In the rankings,
Saudi Arabia topped the list with an individual share of nearly $984,000, followed by
Canada with $822,000, then
Australia with $727,000.
Russia came in fourth,
Venezuela fifth,
Iraq sixth,
Iran seventh, the
United States eighth,
Brazil ninth, and
China tenth.
The point here is that Iraq, relative to its population, is among a group of countries with very large "natural resources,"so much so that a difference of one or two places in this type of ranking is usually linked to two crucial variables: the size of the estimated resources and the size of the population.
But transforming “resource wealth” into “societal wealth” doesn’t happen automatically.
The difference between a resource-rich country and a truly wealthy one is made by management, governance, and the ability to build an economy that operates outside of price fluctuations.
Natural wealth may provide a state with financing capacity, but it alone does not guarantee sustainable development if revenues remain dependent on a single commodity, or if returns are eroded by waste, poor planning, and sluggish productive investment.
This is why Iraq appears in such tables as a country with great potential, while the most important question remains internal: how much of this potential is being channeled into infrastructure, industry, agriculture, education, healthcare, and job creation?
While the ranking highlights the “individual share” as a shocking indicator, a more realistic interpretation comes from a different angle:
Iraq possesses a resource base that offers a rare opportunity to restructure its economy if it is treated as a lever for building non-rentier sectors, rather than as a permanent guarantee. In other words,
the message conveyed by the figure is not so much boasting as it is a warning: possessing wealth is not enough, because what matters most is “how it is managed” and how it is transformed from perceived value into real production, and from quick profits into long-term assets.
For the average citizen, the meaning of this ranking is simple and straightforward:
a country that appears in this position theoretically possesses the capacity to finance major projects, improve services, and create jobs if revenues are channeled along a clear path, and to build financial resilience that can absorb market shocks when prices fall.
Conversely, a persistent gap between the "value of resources" and the "reality of living" means that wealth remains in the realm of potential, and the economy remains vulnerable to external fluctuations, no matter how impressive the figures may appear on paper. In conclusion,
Iraq’s ranking in this global classification reopens an old question in a new form:
When a country is in the club of “resource giants,” why does the social return seem less than the numbers suggest?
The answer is not in the resources themselves, but in the path that transforms them from raw wealth into a state capable of investment, and from short-term returns to development that is measured by what people experience daily. https://baghdadtoday.news/288949-340.html
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