According to a study conducted by the Iraqi government agency Central Statistics Authority, nearly a quarter of all Iraqis live below the poverty line that is demarcated as living on $2.50 or less per day. As the country starts its rehabilitation after the 6-year war spurred by the US-led invasion in 2003 to defeat former dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime, fact remains that Iraq has the world’s third largest crude oil reserves.
The study reveals that ‘23 percent of the country’s 27 million people live in poverty, most of them in the rural areas.’ The top evils causing poverty in the country are ‘failing infrastructure, corruption and high unemployment.’
Muthanna, a province in the south, is the poorest area in Iraq, with poverty rate of 49 percent. The least impoverished of these poverty-stricken places is Sulaiminiyah in the north, at 3 percent poverty rate.
The rationing of food has eased some of this poverty. Food ration cards are issued to all Iraqis. This gives them the capacity to purchase 10 items at minimal cost: sugar, flour, rice, powdered milk, cooking oil, tea, beans, baby milk, soap, and detergent. Some Iraqi officials warn that the food rationing system may have to be halted due to lack of funds.
Via msnbc
