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FACTBOX: Key data on Iraq's economy


FACTBOX: Key data on Iraq's economy

(Reuters) - Iraq renewed a call to foreign creditors at a conference in Stockholm on Thursday to cancel about $60 billion in debts.

Here are some forecasts and data on the Iraqi economy, mostly drawn from a report to the Stockholm meeting published by the Iraqi government.

GDP

-- Economic growth is expected to reach 8 percent this year, the Iraqi government report said. Gross Domestic Product growth in the year to March 2008 was 1.3 percent, according to an International Monetary Fund estimate quoted in the report.

DEBT RELIEF

-- The U.S. State Department estimates that about $66.5 billion of Iraq's $120.2 billion foreign debt has been forgiven.

BUDGET

-- The 2008 budget was passed with an estimated deficit of 8.4 percent of GDP.

OIL REVENUES

-- The volume of oil output and exports are at their highest levels since 2004, according to the Iraqi government, with oil revenues this year expected to reach a record $70 billion.

An economic reform program submitted to the IMF by Iraq's government in December 2007 set a target of increasing oil output from 2.0 million barrels per day in 2007 to 2.2 million barrels per day in 2008.

CENTRAL BANK RESERVES

-- Net international reserves of the Central Bank of Iraq are expected to increase to around $34 billion by the end of 2008, allowing for larger capital budget allocations in coming years.

INFLATION

-- Inflation, which reached 65 percent in 2006, fell to 22 percent in 2007, the report said. The IMF targets inflation of 12 percent for 2008, it said.

(Source unless otherwise stated: Iraq government's annual review of progress 2007/08 on the International Compact with Iraq)

(Compiled by Adrian Croft; Editing by Michael Georgy)

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