Iraq Turns to Non-Oil Revenue as Strait of Hormuz Crisis Deepens

Iraq's Finance Minister Falih Sari said Baghdad is bolstering non-oil revenues and adopting a performance-based budget system to cushion the economic impact of the Strait of Hormuz closure. More than 90 percent of Iraq's oil exports normally transit the waterway; monthly oil revenue has plummeted from approximately $7 billion to $1 billion since the disruption. The government of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is pursuing economic diversification and reforms to reduce dependency on oil income for public-sector financing.