SULAIMANI (ESTA) — U.N. Envoy to Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said on Thursday that the new year would not be “an easy ride” for Iraq as the country will undoubtedly continue to face multiple storms at once.
Special Representative of U.N. Secretary-General for Iraq Hennis-Plasschaert said Iraq had also suffered “immensely” by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The new year will not be an easy ride, as Iraq will undoubtedly continue to face multiple storms at one, from economic and security challenges to the pressing need for reform,” she said in her end of year message.
Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer of crude, is facing an economic crisis over falling of oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.
A large portion of Iraq’s budget relies exclusively on oil exports while the oil prices have plummeted amid the global recession due to the pandemic.
Iraq has the world’s fourth-largest oil reserves and depends on oil revenues to fund 95 percent of its national budget.
As Iraq is set to hold a parliamentary election in June 2021, the U.N. envoy said elections would give the Iraqi people the “opportunity” to have their voices heard as they chart their political future.
“The credibility of these elections, and the commitment of all stakeholders to them, will prove essential,” she added.
