MESOP : TREMENDOUS DOWNFALL – Kurdistan Region imports & exports fall by 50%

14.05.2014 – BasNews, Erbil – The spokesperson of the Kurdistan Investors Board has told of decreasing rates in imports and exports in the Kurdistan Region, due to the delay in the formation of the new Kurdish government.

Yassin Mahmoud Rashid said that due to the delay in the formation of the Kurdish cabinet, the Region’s economic problems have escalated, as indicated by a 50% fall in imports and exports over the last six months. Mahmoud also named several other reasons behind the decreasing rate, including a lack of liquidity in banks, the delay in staff salaries, and the delay in the funding of investment projects due to disputes with the federal government. Relations between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Iraqi Government have been deteriorating for several months because of disputes over the 2014 Iraqi budget and Kurdish oil exports. As a result, business activities in the Kurdistan Region have lost momentum in 2014.