ABSTRACT
In November 2016, the Iraqi government started to celebrate its military victory over the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Investors once again saw reasons for optimism about Iraq’s economic prospects. The stock market was on the upswing. Fitch gave the economy another vote of confidence in March when it upgraded Iraq’s economic outlook to stable, mostly based on the country’s improving public finances. And its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth was also booming. The defeat of ISIS prompted rare optimism and a window of opportunity for social inclusion and shared prosperity among all Iraqis. 1
