Finance Minister: $120 billion was spent on electricity in seven years

Follow-up- INA

 Minister of Finance Ali Abdul Amir Allawi confirmed that the white paper seeks to radically change the nature of the Iraqi economy, and while he indicated that increasing clean energy efficiency will allow creating job opportunities, he revealed spending 120 billion dollars on electricity in seven years.
Allawi said in an article published by the Guardian newspaper and followed by the Iraqi News Agency (INA): “Estimates indicate that poverty rates in Iraq doubled in 2020 and this is largely due to the decline in Iraq’s oil revenues, as prices fell globally due to the collapse in demand caused by "We cannot allow the livelihoods of millions of families to continue to be dictated by the unpredictable fluctuations of the oil market," he said.

He explained that "correcting this matter will require policies and investments that will enable oil and gas producing countries such as Iraq to direct capital and labor to productive industries in the future and contribute to empowering and stimulating the role of the private sector. In fact, this was one of the main motives behind the white paper for economic reform, which seeks To fundamentally change the nature of the Iraqi economy, allow the private sector to play a greater role, reduce Iraq’s dependence on oil exports and commit to economic renewal focused on environmentally sound policies and technologies.
Allawi added, "Iraq can play an important role by taking advantage of the huge potential to produce and provide clean energy, as oil and gas production constitutes up to 40% of total greenhouse gas emissions and the continuous burning of natural gas in oil wells, which necessitates us Commitment to reducing gas flaring and investing it,” stressing that “increasing energy efficiency will have other benefits as well, and this means that we will not need to spend huge amounts to increase the general level of electricity provision, and that Iraq’s inability to provide enough electricity to meet demand has cost the country nearly of $120 billion over the past seven years.