Governing Council backs off from Total Economic Liberalization

The Interim Governing Council said Wednesday that Finance Minister Kamil al-Kaylani's remarks on Monday were merely his on opinion and did not represent the views of the IGC. (-al-Zaman) Al-Kaylani had announced a virtual firesale of the Iraqi economy, allowing foreign firms to own 100% of Iraqi companies and to send all the profits abroad if they liked. This announcement provoked enormous anxieties among the Iraqi business class, who complained loudly. The IGC said that only the president of that body (in September it is Ahmad Chalabi) can speak for the IGC on policy. The IGC's attempt to distance itself from al-Kaylani's laissez faire approach is disingenuous, since al-Kaylani is said to be Chalabi's man to begin with.