Iraq’s reforms: A white paper with no action plan

Iraq’s economic and fiscal crises, which came to the forefront this year following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, were bound to happen at some point. What corona and the ensuing drop in oil prices and declining demand for oil did is accelerate the timing, according to the recently released Iraqi government white paper, a report of the Emergency Cell for Financial Reform. What the paper doesn’t predict is that…

Thamir Al-Ghadhban

The Chairman of the steering committee that formulated Iraq’s first Integrated National Energy Strategy (INES) and head of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Commission (PMAC), Thamir Al-Ghadhban, explains in an interview in Baghdad with Ruba Husari, editor of Iraq Oil Forum, the formulation, the dynamics and the political risks impacting the strategy. Q: What is the Integrated National Energy Strategy and how did it come about? A: When we say a strategy…