Major New Report on Economic Effects of COVID-19 in Iraq

KAPITA has compiled a study about the economic effects resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The research aims to provide insights and recommendations to tackle the challenges and opportunities that currently face the various segments of the Iraqi market. This will aid governmental organizations and authorities in devising effective policies to make a faster economic recovery.

Our team studied the magnitude of the current economic crisis resulting from plummeting oil prices and the preventive measures taken against the virus. The research surveyed over 500 people from various professional backgrounds such as public and private sector employees and business owners. Also the research includes insights from experts from a range of fields such as finance, economy, construction and business development.

The study discusses attitudes towards the financial situation and the extent of the impact on different sectors such as, Energy sector, Travel sector, E-commerce, Banking system etc.

Here are some key highlights from the study 'Surviving the COVID-19 Crisis: Preliminary Findings of the Economic Impact on Iraq":

• More than 30% of respondents had their salaries cut-off and over 25% were laid off, stopped working or closed their businesses.
• Over 27% of the respondents said that their savings would last between 2-4 weeks.
• Public sector employees are considered to be in a better financial position while a heavier toll was inflicted on private sector employees.
• Over 40% of employers believe that 1-3 months will be needed to recover from the crisis and 50% of employers believe that zero interest loans could help in a faster recovery.
• 90% of e-commerce and delivery services were paralyzed due to the curfew imposed.
• Around 70 private bank activities have been limited due to government debt, and shortage in liquidity affecting revenue, deposits, and profits.

KAPITA's research team deeply thanks and appreciates its partners who majorly contributed to the completion of this study. We sincerely thank Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) for being an outstanding enabler for us, Iraqi Innovation Alliance (IIA) for their contribution in data collection and Iraq Business News (IBN) for being our media partner.

We would like to thank all the people who filled out the survey and contributed to the shaping of this study to highlight the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Iraq's economy.

KAPITA's research team would like to express its deep gratitude to the interviewees for their help in making this research possible (The following order is the order of the interviews):

1. Ammar Al-Khatib, Executive Director of The Station
2. Anas Morshed, Economics Blogger & Business Development Consultant
3. Mahmoud Al-Daghir, Former Director General of Financial Operations and Debt Management, Central Bank of Iraq (CBI)
4. Samir Al-Nosery, Banking & Economics Consultant
5. Tamara Hussein, Head of Traders at Rabee Securities
6. Omar Salam, Secretary-General of Engineers Syndicate
7. Abdul Ghani Al-Hassani, Financial Expert & Investment Manager at GroFin
8. Ayser Jabbar, Media manager of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI)
9. Hyder Zahid, Financial Advisor at PMO
10. Ali Sabeh, President of the Iraqi Federation of Industries
11. Hamid Ridha, Owner and CEO of Royal Nuts Company.
12. Mustafa Sirri, Business Environment and Policy Development Advisor in the PSD project of GIZ
13. Zuhair Sabri, Secretary-General of the Iraqi Contractors Federation
14. Ahmed Tabaqchali, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Regional and International Studies (IRIS)
15. Alaa Jassim, Vice President of Earthlink

Please click here to download the full report.