[stop-imf] New Iraqi Gov't May Cut Jobs, Social Programs Under IMF Plan

[Robert Weissman]

Iraqi Gov't May Cut Jobs, Social Programs Under IMF Plan

by Chris Shumway
The NewStandard
<http://www.newstandardnews.com >

Jun 7 - With unemployment at staggering if disputed rates, food prices
increasing and over a third of Iraqis living in poverty, Iraq's
transitional government is considering a plan to slash government spending
by eliminating some public sector jobs and cutting popular subsidies for
electricity and oil products.

Government spokesperson Laith Kubba told reporters that the budget cuts,
which he said are mandated under a debt-reduction plan sponsored by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), would allow the private sector to expand
in areas where government services are reduced.

Kubba said Iraq's government is burdened with a bloated bureaucracy created
during the Saddam Hussein era. He told reporters that the current,
transitional government is considering the creation of a new national
ministry to eliminate subsidies and bureaucratic waste.

"We cannot tolerate this level of overburdening the government," Kubba
said. "We'd like to make sure that those who are in need are protected."
But Kubba added, "Currently, it's a free-for-all" when it comes to deciding
where exactly to reduce government spending. Without saying how many jobs
will be eliminated, he warned that budget cuts "will be a bit painful."

Humam Shamaa, an economist with the Iraqi Institute for Future Studies,
told the LA Times that salaries for government workers account for only 20
percent of Iraq's public expenses. He said cutting public sector jobs is a
bad idea, especially at a time when Iraq's economy is in perilous
condition. Shamaa believes that adding to the ranks of Iraq's unemployed
would only fuel the insurgency.

The IMF's controversial strategy for aiding at-risk economies involves
manipulating weak nations into privatization and "structural adjustment"
plans favorable to foreign investors =E2=80=93 in this case largely as a
requirement of forgiving former dictator Saddam Hussein's considerable
international debt. Social movements the world over broadly oppose such
policies since they typically result in increased indebtedness and
decreased living standards for the poor.

(c) 2005 The NewStandard. See our reprint policy.