ESCWA, in cooperation with the Financial and Accounting Training Centre and the Public Debt Department of the Ministry of Finance of Iraq, organized on 25 and 26 October a national workshop in Baghdad on developing debt optimization strategies.
The workshop brought together representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Iraq and examined the current fiscal and public debt conditions in the country. It also discussed approaches to debt optimization and debt-related risk management to inform the Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) and explored options for strengthening the structure and cost-effectiveness of public borrowing.
Participants were invited to use ESCWA AI-powered Debt Optimization Platform (DOP) as an analytical tool to assess debt structure, borrowing costs, and debt-related risks and to compare debt portfolios with those of peers using global debt-market intelligence.
Moreover, the workshop explored Iraq’s preparedness to access innovative financing instruments, including thematic bonds, de-risking mechanisms, sovereign Sukuk and climate- and sustainable-development-related financing instruments, as part of a broader strategy to diversify financing sources.
It was also an avenue to explore the intersection of climate change, green transition and debt sustainability in the context of Iraq.
