01/04/2021 Iraq (International Christian Concern) – At the end of last year, Iraq devalued its currency for the first time in decades. Since then, Iraq has taken a number of other financial steps which has led some experts to say that the economy is on the verge of collapse. The IMF predicted an economic shrinkage of 12%.
Because of decades of conflict, many of Iraq’s population are internally displaced. For the country’s Christian community, they were largely displaced during the most recent conflict involving the genocide of ISIS against religious minorities. Though ISIS was declared militarily defeated in Iraq in late 2017, the process of rebuilding their destroyed homeland has been slow and involves navigating multiple security related challenges.
Devaluing Iraq’s currency comes with a price that is heavily paid by the IDP community. Infrastructure rebuilding costs are often tied to the dollar, and certain types of livelihoods (such as agriculture) is also heavily impacted by the exchange rate. In such cases, devaluing Iraq’s currency increases the financial pressure faced by local residents.
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