Planning Ministry promises to fight poverty — again
Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:59 amPlanning Ministry promises to fight poverty — again
17/10/2011 14:45
Baghdad, Oct. 17 (AKnews) – The Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation announced to employ 3 million people in order to reduce the unemployment rate in the country.
Ministry Spokesman Andul-Zahra al-Hindawi also promised that the number or poor people in Iraq will reach 5 million people in 2014, instead of the expected estimates of 7 million.
“Iraq is working, through a higher commission of 22 MPs and 12 ministers, to reduce the phenomenon of poverty in Iraq and bringing it to 16% instead of 23%,” Hindawi said.
However, this announcement is not as good as it might sound because it is just a re-run of previous announcements and promises.
First of all, the ministry already promised to create more jobs in the government eight months ago. In February, Spokesman Hindawi announced plans to create 4 million jobs in the next four years. It is unclear, why Hindawi now reduced that number.
But even if the government finally hires an additional three or four million people, it will most likely only have a short term effect. In the long run, only a private job market can solve the problem of poverty in the country, according to international experts.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), 30 percent of Iraqi households already get their income from government jobs in 2006-2007. Another 15 percent receive government pensions. These government employees have a 14 percent higher income than workers in the private sector, according to a U.N. report.
Thus, it seems logical for Iraqis to seek a job for the government. Iraq, however, already suffers from a multi-billion dollar deficit in its financial budget. In the long run, Iraq needs well-paid private jobs.
The second part of Hindawi’s statement is also misleading. The Planning Ministry announced its plan to reduce poverty to 16 percent by 2014 several times (originally it even promised to reduce it to 14 percent). But in last eight years, the poverty rate in the country has not changed and yet, the government has not been able to implement its ambitious plans.
It is also not quite clear how the ministry defines “poverty”. Some countries consider people to be “relatively poor” if they earn less than 50 percent of the average income in the country. Other statistics calculate the amount of money someone has to spend in order to pay for the basic needs in a country. They set that figure as a poverty line.
According to Unicef, the annual gross national income (GNI) per capita is $2,000 USD (2.4 million IQD). Thus, people earning less than $1,000 USD per year would be considered to be relatively poor.
In 2008, the Iraqi Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology had a similar result, when it set the poverty level at 77,000 IQD ($65 USD) per month, summing up to an annual income of 924,000 IQD ($779 USD).
Statistically, more people are considered poor if wages of rich people rise, since they increase both, the average income and subsequently also the poverty level.
Therefore, Iraq’s main challenge is to fight unemployment and raise the income of the poor people — and not to repeat ambitious announcements every other month.
http://bit.ly/pOMx1u
17/10/2011 14:45
Baghdad, Oct. 17 (AKnews) – The Ministry of Planning and Development Cooperation announced to employ 3 million people in order to reduce the unemployment rate in the country.
Ministry Spokesman Andul-Zahra al-Hindawi also promised that the number or poor people in Iraq will reach 5 million people in 2014, instead of the expected estimates of 7 million.
“Iraq is working, through a higher commission of 22 MPs and 12 ministers, to reduce the phenomenon of poverty in Iraq and bringing it to 16% instead of 23%,” Hindawi said.
However, this announcement is not as good as it might sound because it is just a re-run of previous announcements and promises.
First of all, the ministry already promised to create more jobs in the government eight months ago. In February, Spokesman Hindawi announced plans to create 4 million jobs in the next four years. It is unclear, why Hindawi now reduced that number.
But even if the government finally hires an additional three or four million people, it will most likely only have a short term effect. In the long run, only a private job market can solve the problem of poverty in the country, according to international experts.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), 30 percent of Iraqi households already get their income from government jobs in 2006-2007. Another 15 percent receive government pensions. These government employees have a 14 percent higher income than workers in the private sector, according to a U.N. report.
Thus, it seems logical for Iraqis to seek a job for the government. Iraq, however, already suffers from a multi-billion dollar deficit in its financial budget. In the long run, Iraq needs well-paid private jobs.
The second part of Hindawi’s statement is also misleading. The Planning Ministry announced its plan to reduce poverty to 16 percent by 2014 several times (originally it even promised to reduce it to 14 percent). But in last eight years, the poverty rate in the country has not changed and yet, the government has not been able to implement its ambitious plans.
It is also not quite clear how the ministry defines “poverty”. Some countries consider people to be “relatively poor” if they earn less than 50 percent of the average income in the country. Other statistics calculate the amount of money someone has to spend in order to pay for the basic needs in a country. They set that figure as a poverty line.
According to Unicef, the annual gross national income (GNI) per capita is $2,000 USD (2.4 million IQD). Thus, people earning less than $1,000 USD per year would be considered to be relatively poor.
In 2008, the Iraqi Central Organization for Statistics and Information Technology had a similar result, when it set the poverty level at 77,000 IQD ($65 USD) per month, summing up to an annual income of 924,000 IQD ($779 USD).
Statistically, more people are considered poor if wages of rich people rise, since they increase both, the average income and subsequently also the poverty level.
Therefore, Iraq’s main challenge is to fight unemployment and raise the income of the poor people — and not to repeat ambitious announcements every other month.
http://bit.ly/pOMx1u