Iraq’s 150 holidays per year stunt its GDP by billions of dollars says economist

(IraqiNews.com) According to a report by economist Bassem Jamil Antoine, Iraq’s irregular holidays cost Iraq’s economy up to one billion dollars each day and that such holidays severely stunt sustainable growth.

Antoine said in a statement followed by IraqiNews.com that “Iraq’s large number of holidays reduce the size of the gross domestic product, especially in the industrial, agricultural, and commercial sectors in addition to construction operations.”

He stated that “the gross domestic product of Iraq is up to 300 billion dollars, mostly from oil. Every day of irregular holiday would cause the loss of nearly one billion dollars.”

Iraq tops the first place among the nations of the world in the number of holidays, according to the law of official holidays which reach 150 days a year.