Iraq PM: Oil Price Collapse Is Hindering Iraq's War Against The Islamic State

Bloomberg: Oil Plunge Imperils Iraq's Fight With Islamic State, Abadi Says

* Collapse in crude `a surprise,' says Iraqi prime minister
* Neighbors must stop sectarianism, confront extremism together

Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said the plunge in oil prices means Iraq needs IMF support to continue its fight against Islamic State, a battle he says his country is winning despite little support from its neighbors.

“We’ve been anticipating there would be some drop of prices but this has taken us by surprise,” Abadi said of the oil collapse in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We can defeat Daesh but with this fiscal problem, we need the support” of the International Monetary Fund, he said. “We have to sustain the economy, we have to sustain our fight.”

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WNU Editor: Lower prices may have hit the Iraqi government's revenues .... but they are still pumping record amounts of oil .... Iraq oil exports at record, unaffected by Iran's return to market (Reuters).

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