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Iraqâs economy is booming
BAGHDAD, Iraq _ Pepsi is rebuilding its old bottling plant. Mitsubishi is planning a new car dealership. A Kuwaiti firm envisions a $500 million hotel and shopping complex in the heart of Baghdad.Nearly a year after bombs, tanks and looters wrought devastation on Iraqâs already awful economy, the country is teeming with commerce, real and anticipated. Stores are filled with new products, foreign investors are circling, and unemployment _ while painfully high _ has fallen by half. "It may not be palpable, but Iraq is booming," said Maria Khoury, chief of research for Atlas Investment Group, a Jordanian investment bank. "Weâre seeing a big increase in consumer goods flowing into the country." Though still very low, Iraqi living standards are higher than at any time since the 1990 Gulf War, economists say, despite the ongoing bombings and killings. Oil revenues, which fund the government and its social safety net, are near prewar levels. The World Bank estimates that the economy will grow by 30 percent this year, after shrinking last year. ... Unemployment has dropped, but from a high of 60 percent to a still-whopping 28 percent, according to the planning ministry. Whoa, I hadnât heard that tidbit before... their unemployment rate is almost as low as pre Aznarâs Spain. Hmmm, good chance that within 1 year they will have lower unemployment than Spain now that the socialist are in and Iraq is a full blown capitalist society. Posted by: Damn_Proud_American 2004-03-18 |
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