By DPA
Washington : High oil prices allowed Iraq to repay its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) more than a year early as it prepares to negotiate a fresh loan, the IMF said.
Iraq paid back some $471 million in post-war aid approved by the IMF in September 2004, 18 months after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Iraq’s government had until 2009 to repay.
Iraq made the final payment Wednesday, a week before Iraqi officials were slated to open talks with the IMF on the next aid injection.
IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn praised Iraqi authorities for post-war economic reforms and said “its early repayment reflected the government’s strong international reserve position against a background of high oil prices”.