MESOP DATA : Annual Capital of KRG’s Population is $13 Billion

7.03.2014 – Shwan Barzinji – BasNews, Erbil – The spokesman of the Kurdistan Investors Union, Yassin Mahmood, spoke exclusively to BasNews about the annual capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG’s) population and statistics on the region’s millionaires.

“Based on our data, the population earns $13 billion in total. The total monthly salaries of public employees is $844 million, which surpasses $10 billion annually. And in the private sector, people earn up to $13 billion total annually,” Mahmood said. He noted that after the Investors Union had studied the incomes of people, they found that that 60% of the $13 billion goes towards living expenses.

From the remaining 40%, only 12% is put in banks. The other 28%, which amounts to $5 billion, is saved by people at their homes. A large amount of this accumulated capital is reportedly used for buying gold.Mahmood said it is unbelievable to see people saving most of their capital in their homes rather than depositing it in banks. He said people do not trust banks for several reasons, such as the usury form of the bank and the outdated banking system, as well as not using an electronic system.“We are planning to implement a systematic strategy which will push people to put their money in investment and trade, otherwise it damages the economy of the Kurdistan region,” Mahmood explained. The Kurdistan Investors Union was established in 2012 and has 500 members. The capital of each member is up to one million dollars.

“There are 11 billionaires in the KRG, there are people in Erbil, Sulaimani and Duhok whose total capital amounts to nearly three billion, and there are 10,000 millionaires whose income is up to five million dollars,” Mahmood reported. The Kurdistan Investors Union relied on the Central Bank of Iraq and Kurdistan, the identification of businessmen and the licenses of the Investment Union for their statistics. “Almost 1100 licenses have been given to internal investment projects, some of whose proprietors have incomes of $100-500 million annually,” Mahmood added.