SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi finance minister Ali Allawi said on Wednesday the country’s currency reserves are expected to exceed $90 billion by the end this year.
Allawi said high oil prices and “wise financial management” helped currency reserves reach $70 billion in April, according to the official news agency INA.
“The continued rising of oil prices will increase reserves to more than $90 billion by the end of 2022,” INA quoted Allawi as saying.
The country’s foreign currency reserves had dropped to an “alarming” level in 2020, he said, when the COVID pandemic had caused oil prices to collapse.
For Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer, oil revenue represents at least 95% of its income. It has been hit by the collapse in demand and oil prices in the last two years, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
