News / Iraq

Iraq needs $1.56bn to respond to humanitarian crisis

Sunday, 31 January 2016 9:53 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 31 January 2016 11:25 AM ]

Iraqi families displaced from the areas of Hawija and Hamrin in northern Iraq due to the presence of Takfiri Daesh terrorists arrive in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, August 31, 2015. (AFP photo)

Baghdad said Sunday that Iraq is in need of over USD 1.5 billion in 2016 to give a proper response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the battle against Daesh Takfiri terrorists in the country.

According to the report by the Iraqi government, Baghdad is not able to fund more than 43 percent of the needs from its budget. The report called for the international community to help bridge “the deficit or financing gap.”

Iraq has been engaged in a battle against Daesh since the summer of 2014, with government forces managing to push the terrorists from key urban areas in the north and west of the country.

The Takfiri terrorists have been committing vicious crimes against all ethnic and religious communities in Iraq, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds and Christians, since June 2014.

The anti-Daesh fight in the Arab country has displaced more than 3.3 million people since 2014.

Baghdad earmarked some USD 850 million in 2015 to shelter displaced families and help them come back to areas recaptured from terrorists.

Meanwhile, a plunge in oil prices has also battered Iraq’s economy. Prices have fallen by about three quarters since mid-2014 due to market oversupply and a weaker growth in demand for crude.

Iraqi security forces and allied Popular Mobilization Units search for Daesh terrorists at Baiji oil refinery, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq, October 23, 2015. (AP photo)

Less affluent members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have been struggling to get the world body reduce its high production levels in a bid to drive prices higher.

However, influential OPEC members led by Saudi Arabia have rejected any such move, preferring to fight for market share against rival producers, particularly the United States.

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