Iraq

D

Manufacturing

The 1980s was a time of expansion in the manufacturing industry, particularly of heavy industry and mineral-processing, but the country’s industrial base sustained heavy damage in the Gulf War. Besides oil-based and natural-gas products, manufactures include processed food, textiles and clothing, footwear, cigarettes, and construction materials. Baghdad is the leading manufacturing centre and Masul, an important textile centre.

E

Energy

Production of electricity in 2003 was about 14.7 billion kWh. More than 95 per cent of the electricity was generated in thermal installations. Hydroelectric facilities are operated on the Tigris and some of its tributaries. The country also has a nuclear plant at Temuz, with a capacity of 5 MW; the Israeli air force destroyed a 70 MW plant under construction in 1981. Iraq was the first Middle Eastern state to export electricity, to Turkey. The Gulf War destroyed about 90 per cent of Iraq’s power plants and halted electricity generation. However, by 1992, 75 per cent had been restored.

In the period after the War on Iraq power cuts became a daily fact of life for Iraqis. Power lines became the targets of saboteurs and renovations to the existing electricity power systems meant restrictions on output.

F

Currency and Banking

The monetary unit of Iraq is the Iraqi dinar, of 1,000 fils or 20 dirhams (1,242 dinar equalled US$1, principal rate; early 2008).

Currency is issued by the Central Bank of Iraq (Bank al-Markazi al-Iraqi). All banks in Iraq were nationalized in 1964; limited private banking was reintroduced in 1991.

G

Commerce and Trade

In the late 1980s annual exports were estimated at US$12,400 million and imports at about US$13,000 million. Oil sales accounted for almost all export earnings; other exports are dates, raw wool, and hides and skins. Leading imports were machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, and pharmaceuticals. Iraq’s main trade partners were Brazil, Turkey, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. During and after the Gulf War, UN trade sanctions crippled Iraq’s foreign trade. Oil exports in particular were largely barred after 1990 by Iraq’s refusal to negotiate terms of trade with the UN. In 2000 exports were estimated at US$19,900 million and imports at about US$12,208 million. Iraq had estimated essential import needs of US$2,000 million for 1996, to be funded by export revenues of about US$500 million.

H

Labour

The main labour organization is the General Federation of Trade Unions of Iraq. It had more than 1.1 million members in the late 1980s. The labour force in 1989 numbered about 4.1 million. The service industries were the largest employers (52 per cent), followed by agriculture (11.6 per cent), and manufacturing (19.4 per cent).