http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2004-02-19-iraqecon_x.htm
Economy in Iraq grows By James Cox, USA TODAY Iraq's economy is providing pleasant surprises, including booming consumer demand, strong oil revenue and healthy foreign exchange reserves, a top Treasury official said Thursday.
"The economy is beginning to work and thrive again and grow," John Taylor, undersecretary for international affairs, said by telephone from Baghdad.
U.S. occupation authorities estimate Iraqis have imported 1 million cars and trucks and more than 500,000 satellite dishes since fighting ended in April, Taylor said.
Other signs of improvement:
?Oil revenue. On an annualized basis, oil exports are running $1.5 billion ahead of projections by U.S. authorities and Iraqi technocrats, who forecast 2004 revenue at $12 billion.
?The currency. Iraq's new dinar, introduced in October, has gained value against the U.S. dollar. U.S. officials originally worried Iraq could deplete its foreign currency reserves if Iraqis weren't confident in the dinar.
? Building materials. Demand for cement, asphalt and other construction material is boosting the economy, Taylor said.
He said controls on interest rates for bank loans and deposits will be lifted March 1. A fully functioning central bank and finance ministry should be in place by June 30, when the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority is to hand power to an Iraqi government, he said.
The Bush administration is leaving politically sensitive issues to the new government: when to lift controls on gas prices, how to privatize state-owned companies and what role to give foreign oil companies.
Iraq's planning ministry said Wednesday that joblessness stood at 28%, far lower than the World Bank's estimate of 50%. But the Bush administration says 60% of Iraq's 27 million people depend on rations for wheat, rice, dried milk, sugar, tea and soap.
"The Iraqi people are seeing change in the safe areas, especially the south, and in the far north, the Kurdish areas that are stable. Unfortunately, we don't see it in the rest of Iraq," said A.F. Alhajji, an economist and Iraq specialist at Ohio Northern University.
U.S. agribusiness interests complain that revitalization of Iraq's farm sector has been given short shrift by U.S. reconstruction planners. The ag sector employs 25% to 30% of Iraqis and is half the non-oil economy, says John Costello, president of Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs, a Washington trade and development group.
"There needs to be an agriculture focus, and there is not one today. It's a huge missed opportunity. If you want to give Iraqis a sense that the future is getting better, there's no more effective way than agriculture," Costello said.