Iraq will lose out on investment that could create jobs and spur economic growth unless it pulls itself out of a “vicious cycle”, says an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development official. The private sector regards Iraq as high risk, so it limits itself to projects with the potential of high returns. That means the manufacturing projects that can create jobs and sustainable economic growth are less likely to come to the country, said Anders Jönsson, a policy analyst at the OECD “There appears to be something of a vicious cycle in Iraq today,” Mr Jönsson said at the Iraq Finance forum in Dubai yesterday. “What Iraq needs to do is to lower this bar and to lower the risks so more projects get done.” The high bar today is stifling projects from public-private partnerships to even simple landfills, he said. Investors’ perceptions are grounded in regulatory, security and […]