SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Iraq has spent more than $700 bn oil wealth since 2005
Baghdad, July 31 (AFP) Jul 31, 2018
Iraq has raised more than $700 billion from oil since 2005, but almost the entire amount has been spent, the central bank announced Tuesday.

"Between 2005 and 2017, the finance ministry has taken in $706.23 billion dollars in foreign exchange" from oil, it said in a statement.

"A total of $703.11 billion, or 99.5 percent of the amount, has been spent," it said.

Since Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State group last December, marking an end to decades of conflict in Iraq, social grievances have boiled over in a series of protests.

After erupting in the oil-rich southern province of Basra on July 8, unrest has quickly spread to several cities, as people have vented their anger over unemployment, high prices, power cuts and a lack of usable water.

Fourteen people have been killed in clashes between security forces and demonstrators, frustrated over the lack of basic services in what has been ranked one of the world's most corrupt countries.

According to parliament the equivalent of $227 billion in public funds in Iraq, OPEC's second largest crude exporter after Saudi Arabia, has gone missing through shell companies.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Bioplastic habitats could sustain algae growth for space colonization
Boeing expands SES O3b mPOWER fleet with latest satellite delivery
China launches international association to boost global access to deep space research

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Growing evidence for evolving Dark Energy could inspire a new model of the Universe
UK lab promises air-con revolution without polluting gases
Bezos-backed methane-tracking satellite lost in space

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Planet secures 240 million euro satellite services contract with German government
Sceye secures SoftBank backing to launch HAPS connectivity services in Japan
Khamenei seen publicly for first time since end of war with Israel

24/7 News Coverage
Study challenges climate change's link to our wild winter jet stream
Successful liftoff delivers Sentinel4 on MTG satellite to enhance atmospheric forecasting
SatSure and Dhruva Space unite to deliver complete Earth observation service solutions



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.