Debt - external:
$125 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
more than $33 billion in foreign aid pledged for 2004-07 (2004)
Currency (code):
New Iraqi dinar (NID) as of 22 January 2004
Currency code:
NID, IQD prior to 22 January 2004
Exchange rates:
New Iraqi dinars per US dollar - 1,890 (second half, 2003), 0.3109
(2002), 0.3109 (2001), 0.3109 (2000)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Iraq
Telephones - main lines in use: 675,000; note - an unknown number of telephone lines were damaged or destroyed during the March-April 2003 war (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
20,000 (2002)
Telephone system:
general assessment: the 2003 war severely disrupted
telecommunications throughout Iraq including international
connections; USAID is overseeing the repair of switching capability
and the construction of mobile and satellite communication facilities
domestic: repairs to switches and lines destroyed in the recent
fighting continue, but sabotage remains a problem; cellular service
is expected to be in place within two years
international: country code - 964; satellite earth stations - 2
Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik
(Atlantic Ocean region), and 1 Arabsat (inoperative); coaxial cable
and microwave radio relay to Jordan, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey;
Kuwait line is probably nonoperational