The role of financial reform in economic crises – experiences of selected countries with the possibility of benefiting from them in Iraq

To the Council of the College of Administration and Economics, University of Karbala, which is part of the requirements for obtaining a doctor’s degree of Philosophy in Economic Sciences

Submitted By

Hussein A.Hussein Matouk

Supervising  Prof.

Mohammed H. Kadhim Algburi

Abstract

The research seeks to identify the role of financial reform in reducing economic crises and reducing their negative effects in the economies of selected countries (Singapore, Malaysia) as well as Iraq during the period (2000-2022). To determine the effectiveness of financial reform, the financial discipline index and financial sustainability indicators were calculated in Each country in the sample was measured to measure the effectiveness of financial reform in reducing crises using the autoregressive distributed lag period (ARDL) model.

The problem of the research was the development of the economic crises that afflict the global economy, and their irregularity has afflicted the world’s economies with instability, and because many countries, especially Iraq, suffer from a lack of financial discipline and a widening budget gap, in addition to the high debt-to-output ratio, this necessitated a development in economic reform policies, specifically Financial reform policies to confront instability and achieve financial discipline and sustainability.

The research was based on the hypothesis that financial reform has an influential role in reducing the severity of economic crises by adopting reform policies at the financial level by achieving financial discipline and reducing the budget gap, as well as reducing the debt-to-output ratio with the aim of achieving financial sustainability and then reducing the severity of crises.

The research reached a number of conclusions, the most prominent of which is that the financial reform programs achieved their goals in the Singaporean and Malaysian economies during the study period, and this was reflected positively on indicators of economic crises, as financial reform policies were able to increase the growth rates of the gross domestic product in Singapore and Malaysia and reduce the general level of prices. And the size of unemployment, the dominance of oil in generating domestic product and the huge returns it achieves weakened the work of financial and monetary policies and made the implementation of economic reform policies, specifically financial reform policies, ineffective. Accordingly, the researcher proposed a set of recommendations, including that the authorities in developing countries, especially Iraq, commit to implementing Financial reform programs with the aim of improving the economic situation and achieving sustainable development by improving the tax system, rationalizing government spending and managing financial resources, as well as adhering to the rules of financial discipline to maintain exchange rate stability by increasing and diversifying the local production base