CBI: Iraq sees drop in foreign assets, domestic debt

Shafaq News/ Iraq's Central Bank (CBI) reported a decline in net foreign assets and a slight decrease in domestic public debt for January 2025, according to new financial data released on Saturday.

The CBI’s monthly bulletin on financial and monetary indicators showed that foreign assets stood at 128.97 trillion IQD ($98.5B) in January, reflecting a 1.41% decrease compared to 130.18 trillion IQD ($99.5B) in December 2024, and a sharper drop from 140.77 trillion IQD ($107.5B) in January 2024.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s domestic debt dropped slightly to 80.4 trillion dinars in January 2025, compared to 80.5 trillion IQD ($61.45B) in December 2024. However, this figure still represents an increase from 73.25 trillion IQD ($55.9B) in January 2024.

“The decrease in domestic debt this January is primarily due to reduced borrowing by the Ministry of Finance,” the report clarified.

Data also showed that treasury bonds and discounted treasury transfers held by the Central Bank remained stable, indicating that the Iraqi government has started repaying part of its financial obligations.