Iraq pays final installment on Kuwait war reparations

The Iraqi government has finished paying reparations to its neighbor Kuwait over an invasion that took place 30 years ago during the time of former dictator Saddam Hussein.

A statement from Iraq’s central bank said that it had paid a final installment of the $52.4 billion reparations that the Arab country had owed Kuwait for destruction of oil wells and other facilities during the 1990-91 war.

Iraq resumed paying reparations to Kuwait on a quarterly basis in 2018 four years after it suspended the payouts because of security and budgetary problems caused by a war on terrorists.

The final installment was around $44 million and marked the end of payouts worth $4.5 billion that had remained to be paid since Iraq resumed the payments in April 2018.

Iraq has seen a major growth in oil exports revenues in recent months amid a surge in international oil prices caused by the global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Reports in the Iraqi media have suggested that the country’s forex reserves have increased to reach nearly $64 billion due to the rise in oil sales.

The United Nations Compensation Commission had set an ultimatum for Iraq to finish paying reparations to Kuwait by the end of 2021 to compensate for damages to governments, companies, individuals and other entities caused by the invasion.

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