Moody’s gives Iraq its third-lowest rating, saying political risks and lack of diversity offset is oil wealth. Photo by cherezoff/Shutterstock Aug. 4 (UPI) — Corruption and internal political rifts could be factors weighing on the economy of OPEC-member Iraq, a report from Moody’s Investors Service said. Moody’s gave Iraq a Caa rating, its third lowest. Entities rated Caa are exposed to “very high” credit risks. The report, emailed to UPI on Friday, found Iraq was well-endowed with oil wealth, but lacks economic growth opportunities from other sectors. Iraq is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and party, albeit reluctantly, to a multilateral effort to stem production in order to balance an oversupplied market for crude oil. According to secondary sources reporting to OPEC, production in June, the last full month for which data are available, was 4.5 million barrels per day, an increase of more than […]