Iraq Economy Skyrocketing
Purple Hawk
Posts: 1,300
Blood and Money
In what might be called the mother of all surprises, Iraq's economy is growing strong, even booming in places.
By Silvia Spring
Newsweek International
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - It may sound unreal, given the daily images of carnage and chaos. But for a certain plucky breed of businessmen, there's good money to be made in Iraq. Consider Iraqna, the leading mobile-phone company. For sure, its quarterly reports seldom make for dull reading. Despite employees kidnapped, cell-phone towers bombed, storefronts shot up and a huge security budget—up to four guards for each employee—the company posted revenues of $333 million in 2005. This year, it's on track to take in $520 million. The U.S. State Department reports that there are now 7.1 million mobile-phone subscribers in Iraq, up from just 1.4 million two years ago. Says Wael Ziada, an analyst in Cairo who tracks Iraqna: "There will always be pockets of money and wealth, no matter how bad the situation gets."
Civil war or not, Iraq has an economy, and—mother of all surprises—it's doing remarkably well. Real estate is booming. Construction, retail and wholesale trade sectors are healthy, too, according to a report by Global Insight in London. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports 34,000 registered companies in Iraq, up from 8,000 three years ago. Sales of secondhand cars, televisions and mobile phones have all risen sharply. Estimates vary, but one from Global Insight puts GDP growth at 17 percent last year and projects 13 percent for 2006. The World Bank has it lower: at 4 percent this year. But, given all the attention paid to deteriorating security, the startling fact is that Iraq is growing at all.
How? Iraq is a crippled nation growing on the financial equivalent of steroids, with money pouring in from abroad. National oil revenues and foreign grants look set to total $41 billion this year, according to the IMF. With security improving in one key spot—the southern oilfields—that figure could go up.
Not too shabby, all things considered. Yes, Iraq's problems are daunting, to say the least. Unemployment runs between 30 and 50 percent. Many former state industries have all but ceased to function. As for all that money flowing in, much of it has gone to things that do little to advance the country's future. Security, for instance, gobbles up as much as a third of most companies' operating budgets, whereas what Iraq really needs are hospitals, highways and power-generating plants.
Even so, there's a vibrancy at the grass roots that is invisible in most international coverage of Iraq. Partly it's the trickle-down effect. However it's spent, whether on security or something else, money circulates. Nor are ordinary Iraqis themselves short on cash. After so many years of living under sanctions, with little to consume, many built up considerable nest eggs—which they are now spending. That's boosted economic activity, particularly in retail. Imported goods have grown increasingly affordable, thanks to the elimination of tariffs and trade barriers. Salaries have gone up more than 100 percent since the fall of Saddam, and income-tax cuts (from 45 percent to just 15 percent) have put more cash in Iraqi pockets. "The U.S. wanted to create the conditions in which small-scale private enterprise could blossom," says Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk at Global Insight. "In a sense, they've succeeded."
more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16241340/site/newsweek/
In what might be called the mother of all surprises, Iraq's economy is growing strong, even booming in places.
By Silvia Spring
Newsweek International
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - It may sound unreal, given the daily images of carnage and chaos. But for a certain plucky breed of businessmen, there's good money to be made in Iraq. Consider Iraqna, the leading mobile-phone company. For sure, its quarterly reports seldom make for dull reading. Despite employees kidnapped, cell-phone towers bombed, storefronts shot up and a huge security budget—up to four guards for each employee—the company posted revenues of $333 million in 2005. This year, it's on track to take in $520 million. The U.S. State Department reports that there are now 7.1 million mobile-phone subscribers in Iraq, up from just 1.4 million two years ago. Says Wael Ziada, an analyst in Cairo who tracks Iraqna: "There will always be pockets of money and wealth, no matter how bad the situation gets."
Civil war or not, Iraq has an economy, and—mother of all surprises—it's doing remarkably well. Real estate is booming. Construction, retail and wholesale trade sectors are healthy, too, according to a report by Global Insight in London. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports 34,000 registered companies in Iraq, up from 8,000 three years ago. Sales of secondhand cars, televisions and mobile phones have all risen sharply. Estimates vary, but one from Global Insight puts GDP growth at 17 percent last year and projects 13 percent for 2006. The World Bank has it lower: at 4 percent this year. But, given all the attention paid to deteriorating security, the startling fact is that Iraq is growing at all.
How? Iraq is a crippled nation growing on the financial equivalent of steroids, with money pouring in from abroad. National oil revenues and foreign grants look set to total $41 billion this year, according to the IMF. With security improving in one key spot—the southern oilfields—that figure could go up.
Not too shabby, all things considered. Yes, Iraq's problems are daunting, to say the least. Unemployment runs between 30 and 50 percent. Many former state industries have all but ceased to function. As for all that money flowing in, much of it has gone to things that do little to advance the country's future. Security, for instance, gobbles up as much as a third of most companies' operating budgets, whereas what Iraq really needs are hospitals, highways and power-generating plants.
Even so, there's a vibrancy at the grass roots that is invisible in most international coverage of Iraq. Partly it's the trickle-down effect. However it's spent, whether on security or something else, money circulates. Nor are ordinary Iraqis themselves short on cash. After so many years of living under sanctions, with little to consume, many built up considerable nest eggs—which they are now spending. That's boosted economic activity, particularly in retail. Imported goods have grown increasingly affordable, thanks to the elimination of tariffs and trade barriers. Salaries have gone up more than 100 percent since the fall of Saddam, and income-tax cuts (from 45 percent to just 15 percent) have put more cash in Iraqi pockets. "The U.S. wanted to create the conditions in which small-scale private enterprise could blossom," says Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk at Global Insight. "In a sense, they've succeeded."
more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16241340/site/newsweek/
And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
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Comments
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I did like this sentence:
'Real estate is booming.'
Ask Musab al-Zarqawi... he would concur.
Hail, Hail!!!
The point was not to say "everything is roses"...
the point is...not everything is headed to hell. Just because someone offers POSITIVE news, doesn't mean they think everything is going great. Isn't this the place for gray, not black and white? Unfortunately, NOBODY tells us the positives, so I'll share when I have the opportunity.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Still... what did you think of my Musab al-Zarqawi comment?
Hail, Hail!!!
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
I'm not sure what I think...I tried asking him, but I get the same response as when I ask Princess Diana questions.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Liberalism at it's finest.
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
The news is that good economies don't equate "rich, greedy, businessmen"
Capitalism is the key to freedom (in my view) and if the Iraqi market takes off, that helps all Iraqi's.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
But why think Hawk?
"What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact."
Camden 5-28-06
Washington, D.C. 6-22-08
Real estate... booming... al Zarqawi... sitting a house... laser guided munition... BOOM... get it? Booming... house... al Zarqawi... BOOM!? The humor sort of gets lost when I have to explain it to you.
...
And yeah... I can understand how you Bush people will grapple for every tid-bit of good news on the Iraqi Front.. I don't blame you. Especially, when it comes from outside of the White House, because that lends credibility to it. But, even you have to admit that modest success in cell phone and used car sales cannot quite offset 27 headless bodies dumped in the streets. Yeah... it's a good thing and a step in the right direction... the profits, not the headless bodies, that is... unless the profits help to fund Jew hating Shi'ites. Oh, sorry... that's a bad habit I have... preparing for the worst case, hoping for the best outcome. But, I just have this feeling that the people in Iraq don't view the world as I do... and that money isn't the answer or the road to peace and happiness. I'm one of those glass is half-empty people... when it's piss that's in the glass.
Hail, Hail!!!
Like when he stood on that building and proclaimed that the infidels have been turned away by the mighty Iraqi Army... and over his shoulder you could see an M-1A1 Abrams tank sitting on a bridge?
Hail, Hail!!!
Have we lost our way tonight?
Have we lost our hope to sorrow?
Feels like were all alone
Running further from what’s right
And there are no more heroes to follow
So what are we becoming?
Where did we go wrong?
I think we ALL want Iraq to succeed becuse none of us want a failed Iraqi state... that would result in decades of shit. But, straightening up that mess ourselves is a daunting task... one that will require lots of time and tons of money and the loss of so many lives. It is a tough problem that requires difficult, complex solutions. The best bet is a world solution... one that requires assistance from a REAL coalition of nations that includes regional neighbors and our European allies.
Good luck with that... and I don't blame them for passing on this one. Imagine if Russia undertook this idiotic folly and got caught in the same jam as we are... would we be willing to send in our troops and spend our tax dollars to bail their asses out? No fucking way.
It's a tough situation our President has gotten us into.
Hail, Hail!!!
perhaps, but they DO usually equate running water and stable electricity
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Well, let's be fair here.
If 7.1 million Iraqis now have cell phones (compared to 1.4 two years ago), I'd say that this is a sign that more Iraqis have more disposable income. Starving folks don't have cellphones and I don't think that 7.1 million Iraqis are rich.
As El_Kabong points out, there is a lot of stuff wrong that needs corrected, but this article shows good economic growth, in spite of all that bad stuff.
i think Constant day to day mass deaths will always make headlines.
Day to Day..lol
cell phones...woo hoo!! they can call 911..
man im so tired of hearing about innocent lives being lost...hide it from me and show me Verizon adds and Mcdonalds in Iraq bathrooms..
and get me one of those ribbons.. shows i care...
wonder what its like to be dead?
Again the point of the article was the economy is doing better and is growing in spite of all of the death & destruction.
One can say "Yeah but" to anything. There are plenty of threads about the horrid situation in Iraq.
how come no one ever gives me those statistics!
damn the media!
maybe cuz the ones that don't have jobs...stand in a long line to get work... and get blown up..?
ya the percentages would go up
oh...and the economy isnt near what it was before Saddam was removed.
i actually expect this in this country...a positive to you guys is money.
lol its funny..
to say Iraqs economy is Booming
is that not funny to anyone else?
open your eyes guys....
What is so funny with Iraq's economy growing. No one is stating that this solves all their problems over there but it's at least a step in the right direction.
Your seriously accepting this article??
its funny to say Iraq's economy is booming..
Booming..as in exploding...
You know I'll take back what I said in my original post. There are people on here who can't accept good news coming out of Iraq.
Sigh......
There's more hope to be found in this story than any negative post about George Bush or Donald Rumsfeld. Yet the latter are welcomed here with open arms.
It's nice to hear that, in certain parts and places in Iraq, change has come for the better. All the more reason to care about those parts and places where the changes have been for the worse. This story and those like it show that doom is not inevitable. I can only wonder if some people want doom to be inevitable.
What's a "Bush person"? I think I have an idea who the Anti-Bush people are...I actually voted against him (twice in 2000) more than I voted for him (once in 2004).
This isn't about that, and reading your posts throughout this thread, you have an understanding of where we are NOW, you are interested in addressing the question "where do we go from here?" I like you, think it's REALLY important.
As for the other folks, I'm not really interested in living 2003 over again b/c I wasn't even for going into Iraq in the first place. What I'm interested in is solving today's problems. I think the media is doing a horrible job at reporting what is going on right now. The fact that most people don't know what "winning" there means is a testament to that.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days