The United States has extended a $2.7-billion credit facility to Iraq for the purchase of military equipment amid the ongoing fight against the Islamic State group.
(AP)- The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said Wednesday that the deal gives Iraq a one-year grace period and eight and a half years total to pay for its purchases of ammunition and maintenance of its F-16s and M1A1 tanks.
Like other oil-reliant countries, Iraq’s economy has been severely hit by plummeting crude prices since 2014, plunging the nation into an acute financial crisis.
The OPEC member is struggling to feed a cash-strapped economy amid an expensive fight against IS militants, who still control key areas in the country’s north and west.