NEW YORK: American financial service company Standard & Poor’s issued war-torn Iraq a credit rating for the first time on Thursday, with the country’s conflict with militants and low oil prices giving it a junk score.

Iraq has been plagued by war and violence since the 2003 US invasion. Currently violent militants have taken over large parts of the country, something S&P took into account when it handed out its B- rating.

“Iraq faces security and institutional risks that are among the highest of all rated sovereigns,” the agency said in a press release.

S&P said that the country faces sectarian division and has “significant fiscal and external pressures.” Those pressures stem partly from a global decline in oil prices.

S&P qualified its warnings by noting that Iraq “benefits from massive oil reserves and high oil exports.” The B- is a non-investment grade, or a speculative rating, which means many investment funds are not allowed to purchase such “junk” bonds.—AFP

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2015

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