In the past few weeks, more than 300 people have been killed in Iraq in a violent crackdown on protests by state-backed security forces. Many of the dead were young men.
“There is demand for our graduates in the field of medicine but it becomes difficult to find work if you are, let’s say, an engineer.” Instead of taking tough decisions to strengthen institutions like the judiciary, which can enforce private contracts, politicians have used Baghdad’s oil wealth to reward supporters with jobs.
Iraq’s already large security force became an even bigger strain on the budget after Daesh took control of Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, in 2014. Mawlawi suggests that in the short term, a proportion of oil revenue could be directly distributed to households to stimulate economic activity as it can encourage young people to start their own businesses. Before the US-led invasion in 2003, more than half a million Iraqis worked at 150 large state-owned companies including cement and fertiliser manufacturers. While some of them were shut, funding for others was suspended by the post-war American administrators.
The way Iraq is being governed by a host of political parties with varying interests makes policy reforms difficult, says Tabaqchali.
khalidkarim jamian_said