Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. Iraq's seizure of Kuwait in August 1990, subsequent international economic sanctions, and damage from military action by an international coalition beginning in January 1991 drastically reduced economic activity. Although government policies supporting large military and internal security forces and allocating resources to key supporters of the regime hurt the economy, implementation of the UN's oil-for-food program, which began in December 1996, helped improve conditions for the average Iraqi citizen. Iraq was allowed to export limited amounts of oil in exchange for food, medicine, and some infrastructure spare parts. In December 1999, the UN Security Council authorized Iraq to export under the program as much oil as required to meet humanitarian needs. The military victory of the US-led coalition in March-April 2003 resulted in the shutdown of much of the central economic administrative structure. Although a comparatively small amount of capital plant was damaged during the hostilities, looting, insurgent attacks, and sabotage have undermined efforts to rebuild the economy. Attacks on key economic facilities - especially oil pipelines and infrastructure - have prevented Iraq from reaching projected export volumes, but total government revenues have been higher than anticipated due to high oil prices. Despite political uncertainty, Iraq is making some progress in building the institutions needed to implement economic policy and has negotiated a debt reduction agreement with the Paris Club and a Standby Arrangement with the IMF. An International Compact with Iraq is being established to integrate Iraq into the regional and global economy, while recognizing the need to resolve destabilizing security and political conflicts. Additionally, the Iraqi government is seeking to pass laws to strengthen the economy; this legislation includes a hydrocarbon law to encourage contracting with foreign investors and a revenue sharing law to equitably divide oil revenues within the nation. Controlling inflation, reducing corruption, and implementing structural reforms such as bank restructuring and developing the private sector, will be key to Iraq's economic prospects. More finance information from Iraq:

General Economic Links:

Chase.com With many branches across the U.S., Chase provides many personal and business banking services DealBook The New York Times online daily digest of finance news and analysis is constantly updated during the market day. Federal Trade Commission – Credit The credit section of the FTC’s website has lots of great consumer information and articles Financial Times This venerable international business newspaper reports extensively on business and stock markets. Financial-portal.com Portal presents comprehensive financial resources, articles, news, stats, indexes, financial institutions etc: - articles on financial topics - financial news - latest currency charts - latest gold, silver, platinum and other precious metal prices - current financial indexes and dynamic graphs - universal currency converters (all major currencies) - stock, commodity and other major exchanges Finweb.com - the independent financial portal "Financial security. Everyone wants it; few have it. Many do not realize that true financial security requires strength in every area of one’s financial affairs. It requires a systematic approach, a strategic plan implemented over time, in order to obtain it. But it can be obtained. With the proper educational training and discipline, financial stability and security is within anyone’s grasp. That’s why we’re here: to provide you with a solid foundation of valuable financial knowledge from which to proceed..." Fitch Ratings Provides independent global credit rating information for the world’s credit markets Forbes.com Extensive coverage of business and financial news, Forbes is one of the premier sites covering the world of business. Google Finance Google Finance provides an unclutered interface to finance news, market summary with graphs, stock quotes, top movers and other indicators. Also search companies by stock code. Kiplinger Personal finance site that offers calculators, business news, quotes and much more personal finance information MarketWatch This Dow Jones operated site provides personal finance news, advice and stock market data and analysis MSN Money The MSN (Microsoft Network) provides a finance portal including latest finance news, market updates and resources. United States Department of the Treasury The federal agency concerned with the financial and economic growth of the United States. Yahoo Finance The Yahoo search engine provides a finance portal with breaking news, market summaries and editor articles.