Baghdad - Najla al-Taiee
Energy expert Eng. Majid Abdul-Mahdi Al-Nashi predicted that oil prices will fall to levels described as serious due to the policies of US President Donald Trump. He noted that the US president signed a decree designed to extend oil and gas production on the continental shelf of the United States, which represents an area of 7 million square kilometers, including Alaska. The estimated reserve for this region is 90 billion barrels of oil, and 9 trillion cubic meters gas.
Al-Nashi added that in the case of production of this continental shelf, America will bypass all oil and gas producing countries and will affect the decisions of OPEC and prices. "The next few years will bear the variables and risks on Iraq because we expect a price war will decrease the prices of oil to dangerous levels," he added.
According to Planning Minister Salman Jumaili, Iraq's economy is still suffering from deflation due to continued low oil prices in world markets.
Jumaili added that Iraqi government has begun to prepare a new development plan to stimulate the private sector and strengthen administrative decentralization in the country, and that "the military victory on the organization" urged "and the liberation of the land is not enough, Reconstruction of our liberated cities.
He pointed out that the military victory on IS organization and the liberation of the land is not enough, but we have to reconstruct our liberated cities.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed, in March, that Iraqi economic activity is expected to remain muted due to oil production shrink by 1.5%, indicating that the financial pressure on Iraq is still severe.
According to IMF, fiscal pressures remain significant with the government deficit remaining at 12 percent of GDP in 2016, due to continuing weak oil prices and rising humanitarian and security spending. Total public debt increased from 32 to 64 percent of GDP during 2014-16. Credit growth decelerated and non-performing loans in state-owned and private banks increased significantly in 2016.