Iraq Needs Russia’s Advice, Help to Overcome Low Oil Prices’ Outcomes

Member of the Iraqi parliament's foreign relations committee Iqbal Abdul Hussein said that Iraq will need the Russian experience to get out of financial crisis.

CAIRO (Sputnik) – Baghdad needs Moscow’s experience and assistance to overcome the economic crisis that has developed in the country amid a sharp drop in oil prices, member of the Iraqi parliament's foreign relations committee Iqbal Abdul Hussein said Wednesday.

The situation on the oil market will be certainly discussed during the visit of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to the Iraqi capital, he noted.

"Iraq is one of the states, whose budget relies on oil export revenues. This [fall in prices] and the ongoing military operations against Islamic State triggered the economic crisis in Iraq. Russia has a lot of experience in this area, knows how to overcome the economic crises. Iraq, of course, will need the Russian experience to get out of this financial crisis," Abdul Hussein told RIA Novosti.

A sharp drop in oil prices is politically motivated and its purpose is to cause damage to oil-producing countries, by reducing their economic and trade potential, he outlined.

On January 12, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Iraqi economy was facing a double shock arising from the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) attacks and the sharp drop in global oil prices.

The fight with Daesh hurts the non-oil sector of the Iraqi economy, while the oil price decline has impacted the budget and the external sector, along with Iraq’s medium-term growth potential, the IMF explained in a statement.