Companies winning infrastructure projects in Iraq must secure funding within a new strategy by the Arab country to ease pressure on its budget, an Iraqi official was reported on Thursday as saying. 

The bulk of such projects had in the past been funded through annual budgetary allocations but there recently has been a shift in this practice due to cash shortages caused by unstable oil prices and internal hostilities, said Suha Al-Najjar, head of the National Investment Commission. 

“We are now requesting from companies awarded projects, mainly in infrastructure, to secure funding...most of the projects we have awarded recently were on an investment basis which requires contractors to fund  those projects,” she told Iraq’s Shafaq News. 

Najjar said the new policy has eased the burden on public finances, adding that a number of large contracts awarded over the past months, including renewable energy projects, were on an investment basis that requires the contractors to fund them. 

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Read our full disclaimer policy here.
© ZAWYA 2021