Nearly 25% of Iraqis live below poverty line

[joeblow]

Nearly 25% of Iraqis live below poverty line

http://www.infowars.com/nearly-25-of-ir ... erty-line/

Xinhua News Agency
May 20, 2009

An Iraqi study showed Wednesday that 23 percent of Iraq's population live below the level of poverty line.

Abdul Zahra al-Hindawi, spokesman of the Central Statistics office which carried out the study said that 23 percent of the 27 million Iraqis live below the poverty line, most of them in rural areas of the Iraqi provinces.

Hindawi told reporters the spread of poverty is attributed to the failed infrastructure, corruption and unemployment.

He said that the food ration system in Iraq helped to reduce the percentage of the poverty as all Iraqis have ration cards that provide them basic needs of food.

The study comes as Iraq has the world's third-largest oil reserves, with more than 115 billion barrels. The war-torn country is struggling to rebuild its oil industry after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.