Shafaq News / The Ministry of Planning revealed, today, Wednesday that the poverty rate in Iraq has increased to 31.7% compared to 20% in 2018 pointed out that the Corona virus was one of the reasons for this increase.
In a statement received by Shafaq News, Minister of Planning Khaled Battal Al-Najem said, "the ministry recently completed a study about the impact of Corona pandemic on poverty and vulnerable persons in Iraqi society with the support of UNICEF, World Bank, and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative ".
Noting "the number of the poor reached 11 million and 400 thousand individuals, comparing with about 10 million individuals before the crisis".
He added, "The poverty rate among children under 18 after the pandemic is 38%.

In the same context, The IRC on humanitarian crises has called for "redoubling efforts" to confront the spread of the new Corona virus in Iraq, after the country witnessed a 600 percent increase in the number of cases in June.
Earlier, Christine Petrie, director of the commission in Iraq said, "People have lost their jobs and are struggling to find money to buy bread; They eat less, spend their savings and drown in debt".
The Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Adel al-Rikabi, said that the ministry "seeks to overcome the crisis by cooperating with various international committees to find solutions to poverty and unemployment".