Projects worth $189bn frozen in Iraq

Around 600 major projects worth 220 trillion Iraqi dinars ($189 billion) have been frozen in Iraq due to the government’s failure to enforce a funds management law, the deputy head of the Iraqi businessmen’s association said.

Tariq Saleh said the suspension of those projects has hit the domestic economy and obstructed productivity in the conflict-battered Arab country.

“Around 600 projects with a combined value of 220 trillion dinars have not been executed yet…they have simply been stalled or suspended because of the government’s failure to enforce laws on state funds management and public debt…the freezing of these projects have led to slackening of economic growth and reduced productivity,” he told the Iraqi Arabic language daily Al Mada.

He said the absence of those laws have spawned financial and administrative malpractices, adding that loans amounting to nearly 70 trillion dinars ($60 billion) provided by government banks to civil servants have not been paid back yet.

“What we need at this stage is the enforcement of those laws, linking the budget to development plans and projects, and financially controlling all projects ,” he said.

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