Facts About the Economy of Iraq
After the Iran-Iraq and Kuwait-Iraq
wars, Iraq's
economy, infrastructure, and society deteriorated. Iraq's
GDP and standard of living fell sharply after their failed invasion of Kuwait. However Iraq's
increased oil production in 1996 and higher oil prices in 1998 gave them an
estimated real GDP growth of about 12 percent in 1999, an 11 percent increase in
2000, and an increase of 3.2 percent in 2001. (Iraq: Oil and
Economy)
Facts (Iraq: Oil and
Economy) on the Iraqi economy include: inflation in Iraq is estimated to be
around 25 percent, Iraq has major debts estimated to be around $200 billion
(this debt includes amounts owed to other Gulf States, as well as Russia), and
Iraq has no meaningful taxation system and suffers from inconsistent fiscal and
monetary policies.
Government
policies in Iraq
supported the large military. They also
allocated resources to key supporters of Saddam's regime. Both of these actions by the leaders in Iraq
have had a negative affect on the economy and there has been little light for
the Iraqi citizens. (Iraq
Economy)
In late 1996, Iraq
implemented the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food program; this has helped greatly for
improving the lives of the average Iraqi civilians. (Iraq
Economy) More than 13 million
metric tons of produce have arrived in Iraq
since the first oil-for-food program in 1997.
With this is the fact that Baghdad
has been caught exporting food outside of Iraq
while claiming that their citizens were starving. (Myths and Facts About Iraq)
Sources
Iraq Economy, http://www.1uptravel.com/international/middleeast/iraq/economy.html
Iraq:
Oil and Economy, http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aairaqioil.htm
Myths and Facts About Iraq,
http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/iraq/factsheet.htm