Mudhhir Mohammed Saleh, financial adviser to the Iraqi prime minister, said Saturday that Iraq's foreign reserves remain at relatively safe levels, stressing the importance of monitoring the trend and maintaining a safety margin. The Iraqi News Agency quoted Saleh as saying that “the International Monetary Fund estimated Iraq's total reserves at around $79.2 billion for 2026, according to its estimates published in 2025, equivalent to about 9.6 months of imports of goods and services.” He said Iraq's foreign reserves are currently close to this level. He added that “covering more than six months of imports is considered a relatively safe level according to the reserve adequacy indicator,” noting that “the decline recorded in reserves this year calls for greater caution and monitoring, not because they have reached a critical level, but out of concern that a continued downward trend could reduce the safety margin in the future.” Saleh explained that “foreign reserves play a pivotal role in supporting the stability of the Iraqi dinar's exchange rate and represent the main line of defense against pressure on the currency, through the central bank's ability to provide dollars and meet legitimate demand for them, thereby helping protect macroeconomic stability and growth.” He noted that “heavy reliance on oil revenues remains one of the main sources of risk, as any decline in oil revenues leads to lower government revenues and foreign currency inflows, which could increase pressure on reserves and exchange-rate stability.” Saleh continued that “the sustainable solution lies in controlling government spending, particularly current expenditures, and developing non-oil revenues, alongside using monetary policy tools to manage liquidity and maintain monetary stability.”
