Iraq Economic News and Points To Ponder Tuesday Afternoon 12-30-25
Experts: Automation And Fair Tax Collection Are Key To Economic Reform
Baghdad: Shukran Al-Fatlawi Economic experts have praised the Ministerial Council for the Economy's call to enhance electricity collection, review current tariffs, and adopt automation across all government sectors. These experts believe this approach represents a reform path that encourages more efficient consumption. They also described automated bill collection as the cornerstone of any genuine reform, whether in the electricity sector or other sectors, due to its potential for transparency, reduced corruption, and less waste of public funds.
Economic researcher and academic Dr. Kazem Eidan considered electricity billing to be a social, regulatory, and reformative responsibility that reduces waste, as well as establishing the principle of fairness in the distribution of burdens, to create a state of balance to ensure the continuity of service and improve quality.
Sustainability And Fairness
Eidan added, in an interview with Al-Sabah, that strengthening tax collection, reviewing the current tariff, and adopting automation in all sectors is an interconnected reform path, and none of its elements can be separated from the other, if the services sector is to be sustainable and fair.
It is noted that the Ministerial Council for the Economy called for strengthening electricity collection, reviewing the current tariff, and adopting automation in all government sectors.
Reducing Waste
Eidan continued, saying that the current tariff does not encourage rationalizing consumption, but rather contributes to perpetuating waste. He pointed out the need to adopt the principle of fairness in collection, meaning protecting those with limited income with a tariff that differs from factory and project owners, in a way that ensures that costs are accurately calculated and made closer to reality. He noted that this requires more awareness campaigns about the importance of collection in improving electricity and ensuring sustainability.
The spokesperson stressed the need to avoid imposing financial burdens on citizens without any tangible return, noting that reform requires fairness and transparency, especially for those with limited income, in order to create a state of balance.
Global Procedure
For her part, economic researcher Suhad al-Shammari explained that government taxation is a standard practice in all countries worldwide, based on the services the state provides to its citizens. She pointed out that attempts by some to abolish government taxes and the entire tax collection system do not serve the country's best interests. Speaking to Al-Sabah newspaper, al-Shammari stated that electricity billing is one of the most important sources of budget revenue, expressing her regret that it has not been fully understood and its implications have not been clarified. She emphasized the need to explain the role of electricity billing in bolstering budget funds and increasing revenues to serve the public good.
Dual Payment Mechanism
Al-Shammari stressed the need to eliminate the dual payment system for electricity, which relies on both government-provided power and private generators, to ease the burden on ordinary citizens. She also emphasized the importance of different payment mechanisms for the industrial and public sectors.
It's worth noting that the Ministry of Electricity recently announced that 58% of the supplied power is uncontrolled and uncollected. Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Moussa stated that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia'a al-Sudani and Minister of Electricity Ziad Ali Fadhil are holding ongoing meetings to oversee the electricity sector's preparedness for peak demand periods, both winter and summer.
He explained that these meetings focus on load balancing, addressing the needs of load centers and central and peripheral areas, and resolving bottlenecks in the electricity grid. All of these issues are under continuous review by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Electricity, and ministry staff.
Controlling Losses
He added that "the Prime Minister focused in his continuous meetings on the issue of collecting electricity fees, controlling loads, and regulating violations on distribution networks in agricultural and informal areas in a systematic manner, while reviewing electricity supply hours and energy returns, whether produced, consumed, or distributed," explaining that "the volume of losses in electrical energy is large, and the ministry bears large sums for its production and transmission," noting that "the Prime Minister stressed the need to take measures to limit these losses."https://alsabaah.iq/125680-.html
Graff Gas: A Giant Global Reserve
Walid Khalid Al-Zaidi It is impossible for those in charge of the oil and energy sector to remain detached from the optimal investment of all elements of the national economy, especially in utilizing free gas fields or associated gas from crude oil extraction operations.
This is because our country's energy resources have created a genuine need for this vital strategic element, which the world is currently vying for. For decades, and until recently, this national wealth was unjustifiably neglected in various regions of Iraq's vast and resource-rich land.
The realities of contemporary global crises have demonstrated the importance of exploiting this resource as a national imperative that must be fully utilized through promising plans.
Gas fields are spread across wide areas with varying reserve capacities, including fields in southern Iraq such as the Al-Gharraf oil field, which contains enormous gas reserves. This makes it a crucial starting point for a comprehensive national oil industry, which will positively impact the electricity sector. Furthermore, it is a vital element in Iraq's economic strategy and overall development.
This field possesses exceptional potential that can contribute to boosting national gas production, which is relied upon as fuel to operate various production units and power plants in Iraq.
The Ministry of Oil’s programs for investing in gas and relying on it as fuel for industrial projects are clear, but there are promising opportunities to enhance them, improve their reality, remove all obstacles to their growth, and make them an economy in their own right and an important complement to oil production, and to enter into giant projects with strategic dimensions that would put Iraq at the forefront of the growing international economy map in the foreseeable future, not the distant future.
The economic challenges that Iraq has witnessed over the past two decades have led the government, represented by the Ministry of Oil, to seek to develop the Al-Gharraf field and increase its production to achieve economic stability and energy self-sufficiency by exploiting the associated gas in this field, which was first discovered in (1984) through oil exploration in southern Iraq, specifically northwest of Al-Rifai district in Dhi Qar Governorate, at a distance of (5) kilometers.
It contains huge quantities of associated gas, which has been estimated by experts from giant international companies specializing in the field of gas at approximately (50) trillion cubic feet. If plans to access this quantity are strengthened, it will contribute an important role in covering a large part of the needs of the country's power plants and could save huge sums of money allocated as funds to purchase gas from foreign sources.
Therefore, it has become necessary to expedite the timetables set for the implementation of the project works or at least adhere to them and fully exploit the field and not be satisfied with a modest percentage of work, as well as using horizontal drilling techniques to increase production and develop associated gas processing plants.
It is among the most important projects that the Ministry of Oil announced could be operational at the beginning of the year (2027) as a giant investment project after it entered an advanced and direct implementation stage with the actual installation and installation of specialized equipment as a strategic achievement of the highest priority in the national economy.
It will be invested within the approved designs and enhance fuel supplies to the national grid and stabilize the energy system in all regions of Iraq. https://alsabaah.iq/125761-.html
Intensifying Efforts To Raise Iraq's Credit Rating
Economic 2025/12/30 Baghdad: Hussein Thaghab The government has intensified its efforts to achieve the highest international credit rating, given the importance of this step in gaining the confidence of international investors, facilitating the attraction of foreign investments, reducing borrowing costs, and enhancing confidence in the national economy.
The process of raising the credit rating contributes to supporting structural reforms and enhancing the ability to obtain financing from international institutions. It is an important indicator of the state’s ability to meet its obligations, which encourages sustainable economic development.
A few days ago, Fitch Ratings confirmed in its latest report that it had maintained Iraq’s sovereign rating at “B-” with a stable outlook, reflecting international confidence in the Iraqi economy’s ability to maintain its financial and credit stability despite current global and regional challenges.
In this regard, economic expert Alaa Fahd believes that the country needs investment, especially foreign investment, at the present stage, to carry out infrastructure projects and major projects, stressing the need to create a suitable environment for investment, whether legal, legislative, economic, or financial, by providing financial and banking facilities.
Government Efforts
In an interview with Al-Sabah, Fahd expressed his hope that investment contracts would be free from corruption, as this would raise Iraq’s credit rating. He noted that the country is currently rated B- according to the latest report from the international credit rating agency Fitch, which confirmed that Iraq is a “stable environment.”
He explained that stability paves the way for a higher rating by creating a conducive financial environment, combating corruption, and establishing a suitable legislative framework to support investments. He emphasized that the steps taken by the government and the Central Bank, in cooperation with international financial institutions, to attract investment, particularly in sectors that generate profits and economic savings, such as the Development Road, the Faw Port, and also investment in the oil sector and manufacturing industries, as well as investment in the housing sector, economic cities, smart cities, and the banking sector, have contributed to achieving this rating.
Classification.
Ways Of Cooperation
The spokesperson added that many countries have greatly benefited from foreign investment, emphasizing the importance of providing government support and finding avenues for cooperation to ensure investment becomes a driving force in Iraq, as many other countries have achieved, making the country an attractive investment environment by eliminating bureaucracy.
In this context, Dr. Maitham Adham Al-Zubaidi, Vice President of the Competition and Monopoly Council, stated that attracting investment to Iraq requires addressing the structural factors that influence investor decisions, primarily reforming the banking system, ensuring exchange rate stability, and establishing clear monetary policy. He pointed out that these factors play a crucial role in building confidence and providing a predictable financial environment.
Al-Zubaidi told Al-Sabah that reform remains incomplete unless it is complemented by strengthening governance and transparency, especially in the Iraq Stock Exchange, by protecting shareholders’ rights, ensuring disclosure, and transforming the market into a real tool for financing companies and not just a limited trading platform with an economic concentration in the banking sector to the exclusion of other sectors.
He pointed out that simplifying administrative procedures is a necessity of no less importance, as the multiplicity of granting bodies and licensing committees and the conflict of classifications of economic activities constitute a burden on the investor.
Pivotal Steps
He added that unifying activity classification systems among licensing and business registration bodies and regulatory authorities, such as the ISIC4 system, is a pivotal step toward reducing overlaps, preventing conflicting interpretations, and building a unified government economic data portal accessible to the public.
This portal will accurately serve investors and feasibility study makers. He emphasized that infrastructure, particularly in communications and transportation networks, forms the foundation upon which any economic activity rests, and its development requires liberalizing competition and preventing monopolies, along with effective regulation that ensures a level playing field.
By linking these three paths within a clear governance framework, Iraq can transition from an economy that repels investment to one that is attractive and sustainable. https://alsabaah.iq/125760-.html
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