The Cabinet held its weekly meeting on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi.

At the start of the meeting, the Minister of Health presented a detailed report on the latest health developments in Iraq and the government efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 and reduce infection-rates throughout the country. He also  outlined the ongoing national health awareness campaign advising citizens to continue to remain vigilant and follow official health guidance.

The White Paper

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance presented the final report from the Emergency Cell for Financial Reform in Iraq which outlined a number of key measures to tackle the immediate financial crisis facing Iraq.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance then briefed the Cabinet on key elements of the White Paper for economic and financial reforms which aim to tackle the dangerous and serious problems facing the Iraqi economy which have accumulated over many years.

Following extensive discussions, the Cabinet voted to approve the White Paper.

Other decisions

The Cabinet discussed other items on its agenda, and decided to:

• Authorise the Ministry of Transport to enter into negotiations with the Alstom-Hyundai consortium of companies regarding the Baghdad suspension railway project
• Direct all ministries and government agencies to suspend the collection of principle debts owed by farmers, and to cancel all late payment fees, with the repayment of debts becoming due again once farmers have received their payment from the government
• Request farmers who have sold strategic crops (wheat, barley, rice and corn) to government agencies to open accounts at the Agricultural Bank
• Direct the Ministries of Trade and Agriculture to release the money owed to farmers to their accounts at the Agricultural Bank