(April 2, 2004) Iraq’s debt is "simply unsustainable" and must be reduced if the country’s economy and government are to be rebuilt, said former Secretary of State James A. Baker III at a lunch in Dallas.

(March 31, 2004) There is something deeply unsettling about the issue of Iraq’s debt.

(March 29, 2004) It can be said without exaggeration that the collapse of the Iraqi economy was unique among developing countries in the 20th century.

(March 28, 2004) Iraq is heading for economic meltdown under the weight of its $310 billion international debt and reparations bill.

(March 16, 2004) A deal to reduce Iraq’s huge debt burden is being hindered by disagreement over whether Iraq’s debts to Saudi Arabia should be classified as loans or as grant aid, senior European treasury officials said on Tuesday.

(March 16, 2004) Iraq’s finance minister said Baghdad hoped to finalise a deal to ease its massive debts this year, despite splits among creditors over how much debt relief to grant a country so rich in oil. "The world saw what happened in Iraq: 35 years of damage," said Kamel al-Gailani, who held talks with an IMF team in Beirut this week. "Iraq is a rich country, but to return to the international community as soon as possible we need a substantial reduction." He declined to say how much.

(March 16, 2004) Young to help trace Iraq’s loan contracts and reconcile who is owed what from the country’s estimated $120 billion debt pile, a senior treasury official told Reuters Tuesday.

(March 16, 2004) Iraq’s finance minister said on Tuesday Baghdad hoped to finalise a deal to ease its massive debts this year, despite splits among creditors over how much debt relief to grant a country so rich in oil.

(March 7, 2004) According to Harvard-educated Ali Allawi, Iraq’s first trade minister in the post-Saddam Hussein era, the country urgently needs to establish stability, and then can work to forge new economic bonds across the region and the world.

(March 5, 2004) Japan’s government is considering forgiving at least $3 billion of the $7 billion owed to it by Iraq, the Nikkei English News reported, without saying where it obtained the information.

(March 4, 2004) Creditors are likely to forgive $80 billion to $90 billion of Iraq’s $120 billion debt owed to donor nations, said World Bank President James Wolfensohn.

(March 4, 2004) Roman Kupchinsky, editor of the weekly "Crime, Corruption & Terrorism Watch" report published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, investigates the Al-Mada newspaper expose that named nearly 270 individuals, companies and organizations allegedly given oil coupons in exchange for political support by Saddam Hussein’s former regime.

(February 29, 2004) Beijing is ready to forgive a big part of the estimated 5.8 billion dollars owed to it by the previous regime of Saddam Hussein if Chinese companies are allowed into major rebuilding projects in Iraq.