subject: World Bank Gets An Eye On Iraq [print this page] Iraq has caught the attention of the world, not to mention that the World Bank has now an eye on Iraq which was just stressed last November 11, 2012. Yes, the World Bank where almost all countries all over the world have been trying to impress. It was all about the financial contribution of World Bank. The World Bank aims that Iraq be one of the donor states on their financial contribution system. So, what is the reason behind the shift when they seemed to have ignored Iraq 5 years ago?
Head of Iraqi Business Council, Majid al-Sadi, had his answer why this is so, "Iraq will be capable to be a donor country when its oil output rise since its inception has always been a donor county. Its oil wealth will bring Iraq back to its 'historical' position. However, the operational budget of Iraq consumes 75 percent of its revenues, which is why its donations will not be too generous in the short term. Before the 2003 invasion, Iraq provided billions of dollars in aid to other countries, including the neighboring Jordan. The money spent on the infrastructure of the country since the fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003 was not only cosmetic."
However, is not Iraq so dependent on its oil resources? Are there any assets that can drive money to Iraq? Paul Sullivan, an economics professor at National Defence University got a point on this on-going dilemma, "Poverty is still rife in Iraq. Iraq continues to be a potential conflict zone. There are regular bombings in the country." He continued that, "while Iraq needs to rebuild its infrastructure, education, health and more, Iraqis do have a pile of oil revenues sitting around, but poor governance, corruption, weak rule of law and more militate against the proper use of it. The World Bank is less than clueless if they think Iraq is ready to be a donor state. Most Iraqis remain poor in a country with massive oil reserves."
Sullivan got a point on his warning to Iraq. Being too dependent on oil is not a bad thing, is it? Well, at some ways it might be but, when the time comes that oil may become limited, rest assured (if Iraq prepares), Iraq got a lot of resources and ideas that will drive more assets than they have with oil. Just like what Dubai has been trying to do. It is not about shifting but it is about slowly assimilating and adapting change given the needed resources being used properly. As of the moment, Iraq has been producing at approximately 143.1 barrels of oil revenues, which makes 126.7 trillion cubic feet of gas.
So, it is not really a question as to whether or not, Iraq is capable. The real question is how long Iraq can maintain their status as one of the donor states of World Bank to be of help to other developing countries (if ever Iraq accepts what the World Bank is offering). Will it be of help for the country to reach its goals or will it only be a barrier to hit its ambitions on the earliest time possible?
