Economic downturn finally hits Iraq

[Turborama]

Source: LA Times

Many thought Iraq, with its unsophisticated banking and high oil revenues, would be unaffected by the global crisis. But with oil prices tanking and consumer spending down, the economy is stalling.

By Liz Sly

Reporting from Baghdad -- The financial crisis that has sent economies reeling the world over is finally seeping into Iraq, with potentially grave implications for the stability of the country.

Car sales have plummeted. The once-booming property market has skidded to a halt. Electronic goods that were flying off the shelves a few months back are staying put. And in a country still threatened by an insurgency, more than a quarter of men ages 18 to 29 are unemployed.

The economic crisis took its time getting here, in part because Iraq received a revenue bonanza from high oil prices last year and its unsophisticated banking sector has little exposure to the outside world. But optimistic projections made as recently as February that Iraq would remain immune to the global downturn have proved horribly wrong.

"Some people said Iraq wouldn't be affected," said Bassem Jamil Anton, an economist who sits on the board of the Iraqi Federation of Industries. "Those people were stupid."

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-economy11-2009may11,0,6735436.story

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[ConcernedCanuk]

1. Too bad the USA bombed the shit out of their infrastructure, polluted their rivers, bulldozed farms

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And the USA is REDUCING rebuilding funds

YEAH USA

Nomba one - Nomba one

#1 WHAT?