Experience of Establishing Sovereign Funds in Iraq

Abstract

The sovereign funds are legal and financial entities that emerged a few decades ago. They appeared in countries around the world that have surplus sources of income in their general budgets, but they remained unknown and mysterious for a long time, until the situation suddenly changed at the beginning of the current century, when the mystery and ambiguity of the subject of sovereign funds disappeared, and their number increased and sovereign funds grew as a result of the increasing rise in international financial markets, which made them a subject of widespread interest, especially in countries that have oil surpluses. It aims to transfer part of the revenues it obtains for the benefit of future generations after the depletion of natural resources. Among those countries is Iraq, which has established several sovereign funds based on constitutional foundations and legislative texts regulating the work of those funds. This study aims to shed light on the weaknesses and shortcomings in the Iraqi legislation regulating them and the flaws that surround them and to analyze the legal texts and articles related to these funds and the extent of their suitability with the current situation in Iraq in light of the economic fluctuations.