THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE INTERNATIONAL CREDIT RATING: EVIDENCE FROM IRAQ'S ECONOMY

Abstract

International credit rating has become an important aspect of a country's credit reputation on the market, which is influenced by various factors, including economic development, external and internal debts of the country, and so on. This aspect requires the attention of recent studies and policymakers, and the current research investigates the impact of per capita income, GDP growth, inflation, and external and internal debts on Iraq's international credit rating. From 1991 to 2021, secondary data from World Development Indicators (WDI) and global economy databases are utilized for the current study. The present study also employed the dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (DARDL) model to examine the relationships between the variables under investigation. Results indicated that per capita income, GDP growth, inflation, external and internal debts, and Iraq's international credit rating are positively correlated. The results guide policymakers in developing policies to improve the international credit rating by regulating relevant factors such as per capita income, GDP growth, inflation, and external and internal obligations.