Frequently Asked Questions

What Was Mustafa Al Kadhimi’s ‘White Paper’?

Mustafa Al Kadhimi is the former Prime Minister of Iraq, having come to office when the country was suffering significant economic difficulties. Mr Al Kadhimi created the ‘White Paper’ for economic reform to provide growth strategies for various public and private sectors, saving the country from financial collapse and ensuring its long-term economic security. Mustafa Al Kadhimi’s White Paper provided strategies to encourage economic prosperity, establishing a framework within which the Iraqi Government could reform the economy and address significant economic and societal challenges.

Moustafa Al Kazemi emphasised that his White Paper was a strategy for a modern, prosperous Iraq, revealing his ambitious economic plans via Twitter in 2021. Announcing the commencement of the implementation phase of the White Paper, Mustafa Al Kadhimi promised to overcome challenges by adopting structural reforms, describing the White Paper as a gateway towards a prosperous country that stands against corruption and harnesses the immense potential of the Iraqi people.

What Pressures Were the Iraqi Government Facing at the Time?

Despite Iraq benefiting from high oil production and revenues at the beginning of 2020, the country was struggling to break even on salaries, mandatory financial obligations and basic public services. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic compounded existing economic shortfalls in Iraq significantly, triggering a sharp decline in oil prices in a country that derived 93% of its national budget from oil revenues.

What Economic Strategies Did the White Paper Include?

Informed by a full-scale economic review conducted by the Al Kadhimi administration, the White Paper proposed a swathe of legislative reforms geared towards shoring up the Iraqi economy for the ensuing three to five years. Despite the pessimistic general outlook, the White Paper identified sectors ripe for development and expansion, outlining measures designed to help facilitate this growth. Essentially, the aim of the White Paper was to help diversify the economy by investing in tourism, industry, agriculture, investment and other avenues in order to boost the Iraqi GDP.

How Did the ‘White Paper’ Change the Course of the Iraqi Financial Crisis?

The White Paper set in motion administrative and executive mechanisms for reform, providing a strategy for a modern, productive Iraq and investing in the country’s enormous human potential. Designed to restore the Iraqi economy to its former glory, the White Paper tackled deep-rooted problems such as economic mismanagement and corruption, confronting the influence of armed factions and militias and paving the way for greater prosperity for the country by diversifying its income sources. Mustafa Al Kadhimi’s White Paper has been praised for saving Iraq from financial collapse.

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