On 23 September 2024, IFC and the Central Bank of Iraq announced an agreement to develop environmental and social risk-management guidelines for banks, alongside a Sustainable Finance Roadmap covering 2023–2029 and an ESG code. The release describes the intended direction of banking-sector practice.
The desk has not verified subsequent implementation across lenders or its effects on SME financing terms. This historical announcement cannot establish a particular bank’s current requirements or a business’s eligibility for finance.
The announcement is an example of IFC’s advisory role in Iraq’s financial institutions, distinct from its financing of individual investment projects. For borrowers, that distinction keeps the focus on the lender’s actual procedures and terms rather than assuming that a sector roadmap itself opens a funding window.