TNT:
CandyKisses: The private office of the chest addresses his congratulations on Eid al-Fitr as the “Year of Change”
Najaf / Nina / The private office of the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, began congratulating him on the advent of Eid al-Fitr, the year of change.
The congratulations read: “As we live the farewell moments of the blessed month of Ramadan and the advent of the first month of Shawwal, we congratulate the Islamic and Arab nation and humanity as a whole on the occasion of the blessed Eid al-Fitr,
May God return it to everyone with security, safety, prosperity and stability, asking God Almighty to spare everyone wars, scourge and epidemic and to prevail security, safety and peace throughout the world.”
Tishwash: Iraq.. Traders complain of poor turnout despite Eid al-Fitr
Despite the advent of Eid al-Fitr, large markets in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, continued to witness a weak turnout in the buying and selling movement, according to merchants and citizens.
Low-income citizens and shop owners confirm that all kinds of goods are available in the local markets, but the citizens’ economic situation prevents them from buying, due to the increase in the value of the US dollar against the local currency, the dinar, and the increase in commodity prices compared to previous years.
According to a field tour in the Mansour area, which is the most prestigious residential neighborhood in central Baghdad, to see the reality of the markets and monitor the movement of buying and selling Eid supplies.
Haider Hadi, 45, a clothing merchant in downtown Mansour, Baghdad, said that the purchase movement during the last ten days of Ramadan this year has begun to take a downward trend and suffers from severe weakness and a significant decline compared to previous years.
Hadi stated that the reason for the decline in the purchasing power of citizens is due to the fluctuation of US dollar prices and the difficult living situation of most Iraqis.
He added, “The most important week for this trade is the last of the month of Ramadan, and we do not expect the movement to increase, as there are only two days left until the Eid date, and the markets suffer from a lack of customers and shoppers.”
According to Hadi, this year is the worst for clothing merchants due to the weak purchasing power as a result of the high prices, the high cost of living, and the preoccupation with securing a living, in addition to other obstacles, including the absence of effective regulation of the market and the failure of chambers of commerce to protect the interests of merchants importing goods.
“The preparations for Eid al-Fitr and the sales movement at the end of Ramadan are normal, but the buying movement is not like the past,” said Reda Dakhil Kazem, 33, the owner of a shoe store in Mansour, noting that the reason for this is the difficult economic conditions the country is witnessing.
Kazem explained, “There are two days left until Eid, and the general movement is weak during the last ten days of Ramadan. In previous years, we used to start the preparation season for Eid ten days before, but these days the situation is different.”
According to his opinion, the prices of products and the economy in general are affected by the increase in the value of the US dollar, and the security and political situation in the country has an impact. According to the Iraqi shoe seller, the level of the citizen’s purchasing power remained lower than before, year after year.
Complaints about the state of the markets before the feast were also transmitted to the citizens after the merchants, as government employee Ali Faisal (40 years old), while shopping in a store, sees that market prices are exorbitant and start to rise from foodstuffs to children’s clothes.
Sura, 28, works as a government employee. We found her shopping in a shopping center in Baghdad, accompanied by her little girl. She said, “The commercial activity is good and regular, despite the increase in the prices of commodities and necessities.”
Despite this, Sari mentioned that the purchase movement seems weaker than in previous years due to the high prices and the increase in prices after preventing the entry of goods from neighboring countries. Iraqis live in difficult economic conditions, as a result of the repercussions of the financial crises that afflicted the country as a result of the increase in the price of the dollar against the local dinar.
The consequences of the financial crisis that Iraq is going through are not limited to the employee class only, but its repercussions on the market have become clear, as most of the country’s economic sectors are affected by the scarcity of financial resources as a result of the almost total dependence on oil as the main engine of the national economy.
The lack of financial resources for the country led to the failure of the Iraqi government to pay the salaries of its employees for more than a month, in addition to the delay in paying dues to companies, contractors and merchants contracting with the government, which reflected significantly on the Iraqi market and purchasing power, in addition to increasing unemployment and poverty rates.
Industrial specialist Basem Jamil Anton said, “The recent crises have contributed to an increase in unemployment rates,” noting that economic mismanagement and corruption have transformed the Iraqi economy into a rentier and dependent economy, and the state has become the sole financier of citizens’ livelihood.
He revealed that “about 50,000 projects in the private sector have almost stopped in the past years as a result of mismanagement of the economy, in addition to the obvious delay and paralysis that affected government industrial projects,” according to Anadolu Agency. link
