Consumers buy again in Baghdad
baltimoresun.com
New furniture, gadgets, and remodeling, too
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Wedged between the reports of murder and mayhem, the headline in the local paper was eye-catching: "Should you change your wallpaper for lighter tones?" it asked. "Do it once and you'll see the results."
Although there are no lifestyle magazines yet, no Baghdad style mavens and little cause for celebration until some basic security is in place, people are starting to improve a part of life they can control - the world behind their high walls and locked front doors.
Slowly but surely, ordinary Iraqis are redoing floors, hanging curtains, buying new pictures and feathering their nests after years of doing without.
Furniture and upholstery sellers are reporting strong demand, as are lighting companies, building contractors and plant stores. "I've been in this business a long time," said Muthana Fahawi, a carpet merchant for 25 years in Baghdad's Karada neighborhood. "Anyone who says the economy isn't improving isn't telling the truth. You can feel the money starting to flow."
Waleed Abdul-Hussain is among those with money burning a hole in his pocket. In the last few months, his laundry business has picked up after years in the doldrums, giving him the confidence to reupholster his couch and buy a new television, a satellite dish, a rug and two small tables.
"We started with the little things we really needed," he said, relaxing in his small apartment off Palestine Street. "Now we're also thinking of building another room off the kitchen."
Fueling the early recovery are higher government wages, a newly resurgent middle class and the initial sums of what will be hundreds of millions of dollars in reconstruction money coursing through the economy.
The government is in the process of hiring thousands of police officers and troops. It has raised the salaries of teachers and other civil servants by as much as thirtyfold over those in Saddam Hussein's days. And there still aren't a lot of tax collectors, so the money tends to go further. A small television set that used to cost the equivalent of $150 after import taxes, for instance, now goes for $80.
Three wars, decades of economic mismanagement and a 13-year United Nations embargo have left Iraq with enormous pent-up demand. Few ordinary Iraqis could afford to sink much into their homes over the last decade. On the contrary, many were forced to sell appliances and furniture to make ends meet.
"If you don't have enough to eat, you don't go buying houseplants," said Haider Mohammed, owner of a plant nursery in the shadow of the national stadium. "Now we're even seeing poor people out for a look."
There may even be a psychological component, as a battered and bruised population indulges in a bit of shopping therapy to brighten its spirits.
"You're starting to see people enjoy all the gadgetry, the freedom to buy again, even the chance to show off a bit," said Ihsan Hassan, a sociologist with the University of Baghdad. "It gives people a mental boost."
A survey in late March by several news organizations, including the British Broadcasting Corp., found that 55 percent of Iraqis were more confident than they had been a year ago and that more than 70 percent believed next year would be better.
There are few statistics on Iraq's economy and even fewer that are made public, but Tom Foley, director of private-sector development with the Coalition Provisional Authority, sees pent-up consumer demand as a bright spot.
"Given all that's happened here, I think the economy's doing pretty well," he said in his office in one of Saddam's former palaces.
The Los Angeles Times is a Tribune Publishing newspaper. |
