Leaked 2021 draft budget set to pauperise Iraqi workers and their families
The leaking of Iraq’s federal budget has provoked widespread anger. The budget will devalue the Iraqi dinar and cut public sector salaries, amid an escalating healthcare, economic and political crisis.
Thousands took to the streets, blocking the main roads leading to oil installations and bridges in oil-rich Basra city, and the port of Umm Qasr in the south of the country, demanding unpaid wages. There were protests in several areas of Basra province by day-rate employees of the government, including in the energy sector, demanding payment of salaries they have not received in months.
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A leaked draft of Iraq’s state budget sent Iraqis into a panic on Thursday as it confirmed the government’s intentions to devalue the national currency, the Iraqi dinar, and cut salaries to cope with the impacts of a severe economic crisis.
Discussions about devaluating the Iraqi dinar, which has been pegged to the dollar for decades, have been going on for weeks as the government worked to finalise the 2021 budget. The draft law, which has to go through a parliament vote first, gives an anticipated exchange rate of 1,450 Iraqi dinars for the dollar a significant drop from the central bank’s current official rate of around 1,182 dinars for $1.
Panic in Iraq as leaked budget draft signals devaluation
Sharp public reactions indicate the challenges the country will face implementing needed economic reforms in an election year, and in particular to the budget-draining public sector.
Friday 18/12/2020
A customer changes US dollars to Iraqi dinars at a currency exchange shop in Baghdad. (REUTERS)
BAGHDAD – A leaked draft of Iraq’s state budget sent Iraqis into a panic on Thursday as it confirmed the government’s intention to devalue the national currency, the Iraqi dinar, and cut salaries to cope with the impact of a severe economic crisis.
Discussions about devaluaing the Iraqi dinar, which has been pegged to the dollar for decades, have been going on for weeks as the government worked to finalise the 2021 budget.
A leaked draft of Iraq’s state budget sent Iraqis into a panic on Thursday as it confirmed the government’s intentions to devalue the national currency, the Iraqi dinar, and cut salaries to cope with the impacts of a severe economic crisis.
Discussions about devaluating the Iraqi dinar, which has been pegged to the dollar for decades, have been going on for weeks as the government worked to finalise the 2021 budget. The draft law, which has to go through a parliament vote first, gives an anticipated exchange rate of 1,450 Iraqi dinars for the dollar a significant drop from the central bank’s current official rate of approximately 1,182 dinars for $1.
Iraqis panic as leaked budget draft signals devaluation
by Samya Kullab, The Associated Press
Posted Dec 17, 2020 3:58 pm EDT
Last Updated Dec 17, 2020 at 4:12 pm EDT
FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2020 file photo, a shop owner waits for customers in Baghdad, Iraq. A leaked draft of Iraq s state budget has spurred panic as it confirmed the government s intentions to devalue the national currency, the Iraqi dinar, and cut salaries to cope with a severe economic crisis. Multiple officials confirmed the authenticity of the 2021 draft budget law that was making the rounds on social media on Thursday, Dec. 17. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)