Bumped ~
Snip ~The government has also asked the central bank to open accounts before May 1 to transfer funds from the U.N.-mandated Development Fund for Iraq, or DFI. The DFI, which was set up after the 2003 war to handle oil and other revenues, has been protected against claims by a U.N. resolution that expires on June 30.
Iraq Settles $21B In Saddam-Era Commercial Debt -Ctrl B
AMMAN (Dow Jones)--Iraq has settled more than $21 billion in outstanding Saddam-era commercial claims against the Iraqi government and public sector, a senior central bank official said Wednesday.
Baghdad opened a commercial debt buyback program four years ago and said it would qualify claimants for a cash buyback of 10.5% of the outstanding amount for debts less than $35 million, Mudher Kasim, the senior advisor of the central bank of Iraq, told Dow Jones Newswires in a telephone interview from Baghdad. Kasim added that for debts of more than $35 million, the government has offered bonds carrying a 7.5% interest rate.
He said more than 13,000 claimants have so far participated in the program and a total of $2.7 billion worth of bonds have been issued. The bonds mature in 2028 but start to pay back the principle from 2020, he added.
The terms of the program were comparable to the terms of Iraq's 2004 Paris Club deal, he said.
Iraq emerged from the U.S.-invasion in 2003 with around $200 billion in debt and war reparations to compensate for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Five percent of Iraq's oil revenue still goes toward war reparations.
The Paris Club of 19 rich creditor nations agreed in 2004 to write off 80% of its $40 billion debt to Iraq. Iraq still owes government-to-government debt, including to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as some $50 billion in war reparations to Kuwait, of which Iraq already paid $28 billion.
The latest nation, outside the Paris Club, to write off Iraq's debt was China when it cancelled some $8 billion of Iraq's debt. The United Arab Emirates waived $7 billion of Iraqi debt and Russia wrote off $12.9 billion in 2008. Romania forgave $2 billion out of $2.5 billion owed by Iraq.
The Iraqi government recently urged the central bank and other governmental entities to settle commercial debts in a bid to protect its money from foreign claims as the U.N. Security Council adopted a decision in November last year lifting its protection of Iraqi funds deposited outside Iraq at the end of June 2011.
The government has also asked the central bank to open accounts before May 1 to transfer funds from the U.N.-mandated Development Fund for Iraq, or DFI. The DFI, which was set up after the 2003 war to handle oil and other revenues, has been protected against claims by a U.N. resolution that expires on June 30.
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZW20110302000167
Snip ~The government has also asked the central bank to open accounts before May 1 to transfer funds from the U.N.-mandated Development Fund for Iraq, or DFI. The DFI, which was set up after the 2003 war to handle oil and other revenues, has been protected against claims by a U.N. resolution that expires on June 30.
Iraq Settles $21B In Saddam-Era Commercial Debt -Ctrl B
AMMAN (Dow Jones)--Iraq has settled more than $21 billion in outstanding Saddam-era commercial claims against the Iraqi government and public sector, a senior central bank official said Wednesday.
Baghdad opened a commercial debt buyback program four years ago and said it would qualify claimants for a cash buyback of 10.5% of the outstanding amount for debts less than $35 million, Mudher Kasim, the senior advisor of the central bank of Iraq, told Dow Jones Newswires in a telephone interview from Baghdad. Kasim added that for debts of more than $35 million, the government has offered bonds carrying a 7.5% interest rate.
He said more than 13,000 claimants have so far participated in the program and a total of $2.7 billion worth of bonds have been issued. The bonds mature in 2028 but start to pay back the principle from 2020, he added.
The terms of the program were comparable to the terms of Iraq's 2004 Paris Club deal, he said.
Iraq emerged from the U.S.-invasion in 2003 with around $200 billion in debt and war reparations to compensate for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Five percent of Iraq's oil revenue still goes toward war reparations.
The Paris Club of 19 rich creditor nations agreed in 2004 to write off 80% of its $40 billion debt to Iraq. Iraq still owes government-to-government debt, including to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as well as some $50 billion in war reparations to Kuwait, of which Iraq already paid $28 billion.
The latest nation, outside the Paris Club, to write off Iraq's debt was China when it cancelled some $8 billion of Iraq's debt. The United Arab Emirates waived $7 billion of Iraqi debt and Russia wrote off $12.9 billion in 2008. Romania forgave $2 billion out of $2.5 billion owed by Iraq.
The Iraqi government recently urged the central bank and other governmental entities to settle commercial debts in a bid to protect its money from foreign claims as the U.N. Security Council adopted a decision in November last year lifting its protection of Iraqi funds deposited outside Iraq at the end of June 2011.
The government has also asked the central bank to open accounts before May 1 to transfer funds from the U.N.-mandated Development Fund for Iraq, or DFI. The DFI, which was set up after the 2003 war to handle oil and other revenues, has been protected against claims by a U.N. resolution that expires on June 30.
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZW20110302000167
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