Economic growth in Iraq will accelerate to 12.6% this year, the fastest rate since at least 2006, according to forecasts from the World Bank. The country will also post its second consecutive current account surplus, at 9.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012, after posting deficits in both 2009 and 2010.
The country’s growth is largely being driven by its rapidly growing oil output. Home to the world’s fifth largest crude oil reserves, Iraqi oil production inched past the 3 million-barrels-a-day mark in July – 300,000 barrels per day higher than the country's average output in 2011. With oil prices at about $90 per barrel, Iraq's production rate translates into roughly $100bn a year in revenue.
