Iraq’s Minister of Trade, Atheer Al-Ghurairi.
Media Monitor
Trade minister: Iraq has strategic food reserves for seven months
BAGHDAD — Iraq has “achieved food security through self-sufficiency and the provision strategic reserves”, Trade Minister Atheer Al-Ghurairi told Dijlah TV. He emphasized the country’s ample stocks of wheat, calling it “the primary crop.”
“We have enough wheat—the primary crop—stored in the Ministry of Trade’s warehouses to last a year, and we possess food reserves sufficient for the next seven months,” Al-Ghurairi said.
Excerpts from Al-Ghurairi with Dijlah TV:
We can say today that Iraq has achieved food security through self-sufficiency and the provision of strategic reserves for essential food basket items.
Today, we have enough wheat—the primary crop—stored in the warehouses of the Ministry of Trade to last a year, and we possess food reserves sufficient for the next seven months.
Two years ago, Iraq was among the countries with the highest inflation and price increases. Today, it has left that list, and we are now in control of marketing schedules and monitoring prices.
We have adopted a real policy to maintain food security. The first step was ensuring the regular provision, distribution, and monitoring of food rations.
The second step involved strengthening regulatory bodies in cooperation with organized crime units. We have halted many instances of price manipulation and speculative trading.
The third step was opening marketing outlets as extensions of the centrally managed markets that operated under a socialist system. The state now supports these outlets, and the prime minister has inaugurated six “hypermarkets” in Baghdad in collaboration with the private sector. We mandated that 50% of shelf space be reserved for local products before imported goods. Traders are not allowed to allocate 80% of shelf space to imports. These hypermarkets receive more than 12,000 visits daily, and their prices are 25% lower than regular markets.
We have structured pricing and maintain continuous monitoring of these markets. Selling at prices higher than the set rates is not allowed.
Every day, two copies of the pricing lists are prepared—one for me and the other for the prime minister. Al-Sudani may be the first prime minister to personally monitor prices. If the price of a kilogram of flour increases by 1,000 or 2,000 IQD ($0.7 to $1.3), he immediately calls to ask why. He closely follows price lists.
To avoid monopolization and opposition to the private sector, we have become a facilitator for private sector activities under specific regulations. Previously, the state had controlled imports, bearing both profits and losses. Today, we follow a free-market economy, but with regulations. A trader can set a profit margin of 20% or 30%, but in hypermarkets, where we provide security, electricity, space, refrigeration, and other services, the trader’s profit is capped at 8% to 10%. The state has entered the market as a non-profit trader to restore balance.
Iraq’s total imports last year reached $85 billion. Imports from the UAE amounted to $23 billion, from China $18 billion, from Turkey $16 billion, from Saudi Arabia $1 billion, from Jordan $900 million, from Kuwait $300 million, and from Iran $12 billion. Iraq imports from 130 countries, but these are the main sources.
The Ministry of Trade has been shielded from political interference through the government program and the political agreement paper. This government was formed as a “service-oriented government,” and the Ministry of Trade’s agenda has been to provide services in accordance with its work, regulations, and laws. Other ministries have followed the same approach.
