Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Eco Iraq Observatory, which studies economic performance indicators, disclosed on Saturday that non-oil income now accounts for 16 percent of Iraq’s overall financial revenues, the highest percentage recorded so far. According to a statement released by the observatory, this is the first time that the percentage of non-oil earnings has climbed to 16 percent during the months of May and June, having not exceeded five percent in years. Eco Iraq noted that the proportion originally grew to roughly 10 percent between May 2020 and October 2022, then remained stable at that level during Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s leadership before recently hitting its peak.
The statement highlighted that non-oil revenues are divided into commodity taxes, production fees, general fees, income and wealth taxes, transfer revenues, and other sources. Iraqi Kurdistan’s income, which it distributes to the federal government in Baghdad, accounts for around 5.5 percent of overall non-oil revenues. As part of the government’s efforts to diversify the economy and achieve Iraq’s long-term development goals, Mazhar Saleh, the Prime Minister’s Advisor for Financial Affairs, stated in early June that an initiative would be launched.
This initiative aims to create an integrated link between enhancing the structure of non-oil revenues within the framework of state finances and diversifying the non-oil GDP. The Iraqi government established the ambitious goal, referred to as ‘Iraq 2035,’ in May. It includes both public finance reforms and social market economy policies, which aim to facilitate a gradual structural transformation of the national economy, as stated by Saleh.
The vision transforms fiscal policy to ensure that non-oil income accounts for at least 46 percent of total governmental revenues. This will improve budgetary sustainability and reduce the volatility caused by overreliance on oil earnings. The post Iraq’s non-oil revenues jump to 16% appeared first on Iraqi News.
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