SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A number of lawmakers called on the Kurdistan parliament on Wednesday to summon the ministers of economy and over a rise in food prices.
A letter signed by 41 lawmakers calls for the parliament to hold a session to discuss the rise in prices of basic commodities in the Kurdistan Region.
For about a week, the price of foods and other basic necessities have risen in local markets in Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region. Officials attributed the issue to the war in Ukraine.
“We call on [the parliament’s presidency] to add the issue of the rise in prices of people’s daily necessities to the parliament’s weekly session so as to discuss the issue … with the attendance of the ministers of trade and industry and finance and economy,” the lawmakers said in the letter.
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.
On Wednesday, more than 500 Iraqis protested in Nasiriyah against the rise in food prices.
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”.
