The Iraqi government said Monday (April 16th) that it would earmark 100 billion Iraqi dinars ($85.8 million) to turn money-losing government companies into profitable ones.

"The government is serious about addressing the economic problems facing faltering government companies and finding practical alternatives to taking loans from state-run banks," Iraqi government spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh told Al-Shorfa.

He said "a special Iraqi committee will handle the file of government companies that had losses last year by studying and addressing the causes of the losses", including the importation of new machines and the addition of production lines.