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15 December 2004

Iraqi Team to Visit Washington for Joint Economic Talks

Iraqi economy shows strong growth despite security challenges, U.S. official says

By David Shelby
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Iraqi Finance Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi will lead a delegation of senior Iraqi economic officials on a visit to Washington, December 16 through 21, to participate in the second meeting of the U.S.-Iraq Joint Economic Commission (JEC).

The Iraqi delegation will meet with U.S. government officials to discuss Iraq's fiscal and monetary policies, technical assistance for the collection of macroeconomic statistics, training for officials in the petroleum sector and the restructuring of the agricultural sector.

The officials will review the economic achievements that Iraq has made since the first JEC meeting in September.

At the September meeting, the Iraqi and U.S. officials discussed external debt reduction and Iraq's efforts to obtain an emergency post-conflict assistance (EPCA) facility from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Iraqis also expressed their desire to deepen their cooperation with the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The U.S. officials announced at the September meeting that Iraq would be granted general system of preferences (GSP) status, which would allow it to benefit from duty-free access to the U.S. market on up to 3,394 export products. The officials will discuss which products the Iraqis would like to place on the GSP eligibility list at the December meeting.

According to a senior U.S. administration official, Iraq has made tremendous progress toward achieving the goals it laid out for itself at the first JEC meeting. Iraq has received a cancellation of 80 percent of its debt to Paris Club nations and expects to receive similar debt reductions from other lenders.

Iraq has completed its EPCA agreement with the IMF and has already received more than $400 million under that program. In addition, Iraq has recently opened negotiations for accession to the WTO.

The senior U.S. official noted that the IMF estimates Iraq's economic growth for 2004 will surpass 50 percent, and he observed that Iraq enjoys low inflation, a stable currency and strong foreign exchange reserves.

Discussions at the upcoming JEC meeting will focus on ensuring that Iraq's fiscal and monetary policies remain in line with the requirements of its IMF agreement and prepare the government to follow up with a more demanding IMF standby agreement in 2005.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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