SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Hundreds of Iraqis on Wednesday protested in Iraq’s impoverished south against a rise in food prices which officials attributed to the war in Ukraine.
More than 500 protesters gathered in a central square in Nasiriyah on Wednesday in protest of the surge in food prices, according to AFP.
“The rise in prices is strangling us, whether it is bread or other food products,” AFP quoted a protester as saying.
“We can barely make ends meet,” he added.
For about a week, the price of cooking oils and flour have skyrocketed in local markets as government officials have sought to address growing anger with various statements and measures.
The country’s trade ministry attributed the rise in cooking oils to the war in Ukraine.
“There’s a major global crisis because Ukraine has a large share of [the world market in cooking] oils,” AFP quoted spokesman Mohammed Hanoun as saying.
To confront the rise, the Iraqi government announced measures including a monthly allowance of about $70 for pensioners whose income does not exceed one million dinars ($700), as well as civil servants earning less than 500,000 dinars.
The authorities also announced the suspension of customs duties on food products, basic consumer goods and construction materials for two months.
Separately, the ministry of interior said the security forces had arrested 31 people accused of “raising the prices of food commodities and abusing citizens”.
Both Russia and Ukraine are major producers of foodstuffs, including sunflower oil and wheat, and the Middle East is particularly dependent on imports from the two countries.
Iraq is a major Middle East grain importer and needs between 4.5 million and 5 million tons of wheat a year to supply its massive food rationing programme.
The ministry of commerce said on Monday the central government would allocate $100 million to urgently purchase wheat and to create a strategic reserve by importing three million tons of the grain.
