In Baghdad, flour prices stay on the rise

BAGHDAD, Iraq - In the country’s capital, a spike in flour prices is among rising food costs leaving industry workers and citizens struggling to maintain their livelihoods.

The price of a 50kg sack of flour has risen from 32,000 to 45,000 dinars - slightly more than 10 US dollars. Rice and sugar prices have also increased.

The ministry of planning announced in March that Iraq’s poverty rate is at 24.8%, with unemployment at 13.7%. Many struggle to pay the rising costs of food. 

“They say the price hike is global, but people say no - it's because of the devaluation of the Iraqi dinar," said Haidar Mohammed, a shop owner in Baghdad. “No one knows what the reason is.”

Abu Ali, a flour trader, said that “it’s impossible to find a trader who says he’s made a profit.”

“We sell it [50 kg sack of flour] for 40,000 dinars today and buy it for 42,000 dinars tomorrow,” he said. “We sell it for 42,000 dinars and buy it again for 44,000 dinars. This is not a business.”

The Ministry of Trade is conducting investigations into the high prices.

This summer, bread prices in Kurdistan Region rose because of demand for imports and a spike in global wheat prices after crop failures.

Mazhar Muhammad Salih, the financial adviser to the Iraqi prime minister said on Saturday that the problem is due to a delay in implementing the 2021 budget.

“There’s no way except for the implementation of all the articles in the budget bill. Passing the budget bill and implementing it as it is will resolve all the issues. This will lead to economic stability,” Salih explained.

Trade ministry spokesperson Mohammed Hanoon told Rudaw on Saturday that the price of flour has been reduced to 19,000 to 21,000 dinars.

Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed