Iraq’s internal debt rose to $73 billion by the end of April economy

Data from the Central Bank of Iraq showed today, Wednesday, that the country’s internal public debt has risen to 95.68 trillion Iraqi dinars (about 73 billion dollars) until the end of April 2026, compared to 90.52 trillion dinars (about 69 billion dollars) at the end of 2025, an increase of 5.16 trillion dinars (about 3.94 billion dollars) during the first four months of the year, which means an increase of 5.7%.

Tables issued by the Central Bank revealed that the Ministry of Finance’s debts to the Central Bank of Iraq rose to 55.67 trillion dinars (about 42.52 billion dollars) at the end of last April, compared to about 45.67 trillion dinars (about 34.89 billion dollars) at the end of 2025, an increase of 10 trillion dinars (7.63 billion dollars), constituting the largest components of internal debt.

On the other hand, other components of the internal debt recorded a noticeable decline, as loans decreased to 20.27 trillion dinars (about 15.47 billion dollars) compared to 22.9 trillion dinars (about 17.48 billion dollars) at the end of 2025, and government bonds also declined to 10.87 trillion dinars (about 8.30 billion dollars) compared to 13.1 trillion dinars (about 9.98 billion dollars). While treasury transfers stabilized at 8.84 trillion dinars (about 6.75 billion dollars).

The size of internal debt

Despite the high internal debt, the Central Bank said that the ratio of public debt to gross domestic product does not exceed 43%, a ratio that is internationally classified as safe and moderate levels, and does not constitute a direct burden on the country’s economic or financial stability.

The rise in internal debt comes at a time when the Iraqi government is seeking to finance public spending and enhance strategic reserves, amid fluctuations in global energy markets and financing challenges associated with the implementation of investment projects and development plans.

External debt decline

Earlier, data from the Central Bank showed a slight decline in the value of Iraq’s external debt to $54.1 billion in 2025, compared to $54.6 billion in 2024, and $56.2 billion in 2023, which reflects a cumulative decline of about $2.1 billion over two years.

The bank explained that the actual deficit in the budgets for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 amounted to about 35 trillion dinars (about 26.72 billion dollars) only, and was covered locally through the issuance of bonds and government transfers, indicating that the volume of actual borrowing did not exceed 18.2% of the estimated deficit in the public budgets.