Iraq's Governing Council backed off Wednesday from a controversial pledge by its finance minister to allow 100 percent foreign ownership in most economic sectors here, saying the matter needed more study.
A council statement distanced the US-installed body from a key part of a sweeping economic package presented by interim Finance Minister Kamel al-Kilani at the IMF meeting yesterday.
The text said that only the council president could announce policy "and the statements attributed to the [finance] minister about the law of investment cannot be considered official."
Kilani's announcement that Iraq would be open to 100-percent foreign ownership in all sectors except oil created headlines and sparked criticism in Iraqi business circles.
But the statement said the version presented in Dubai "was not precise" and ignored restrictions adopted by the council concerning manpower and the organization of the private sector.
"After studying the statements attributed to the finance minister and the reaction," the council decided to empanel a committee to review the investment question and its impact, the statement said.
It promised to come up with a "precise, scientific version that will guarantee the rights of the Iraqi people and serve the high interests of the country."
Kilani's reforms were unveiled in a statement released by the US delegation to the IMF-World Bank meeting which said they would "significantly advance efforts to build a free and open market economy in Iraq."
Under the plan, foreign firms would have been able to buy Iraqi firms outright, forge joint ventures and open branches. Total foreign ownership would have been allowed "in all sectors except natural resources."
The package announced in Dubai caused an immediate storm in Iraq, where businessmen and analysts expressed fears that outsiders could swallow up the national economy.
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