ABSTRACT
Iraq faces the prospect of long-term low oil prices. However, there is only a short period where the government will have the political capital to implement reforms and prepare Iraq for a new era. Rising public sector expenditure has endured despite the stated aim of successive Iraqi governments after 2003 to develop the private sector. The majority of Iraq's labor force is used to either being in government employment, with wages that do not reflect the real economy, or being underemployed or supported by someone in state employment. The need for gas imports is due in part to delays in implementing Iraq's Gas Master Plan, devised by Shell and the Ministry of Oil in 2005. The textile factories, along with cement plants, automobile assembly factories, and fertilizer plants, make up some of Iraq's approximately 200 state-owned enterprises, many of which were established under the Baath Party.
