Iraq is spending huge amounts of money on a government system that isn’t producing real results, an economic expert warned on Saturday.
Khalid al-Jabri, head of the Osoul Foundation for Economic Development and Sustainability, said the problem starts with civil service laws that focus on discipline and attendance, not performance. In simple terms, employees get paid for showing up, not for what they actually achieve.
Al-Jabri explained that the public sector now employs around 5.6 million people, not including the Kurdistan Region. Their monthly salaries alone cost the state about 6 trillion dinars, or roughly $4.5 billion.
He broke down the cost of time inside government offices. One single minute of official work costs the state about 617 million dinars. One hour costs 37 billion dinars. A full working day drains nearly 296 billion dinars from the budget.
Even short meetings come at a heavy price. A 10-minute meeting in some government departments costs around 2 billion dinars, yet often delivers little value. A 20-minute break or breakfast period costs about 3.7 billion dinars every day. Simple social interactions and formal courtesies can cost 6.2 billion dinars in just 10 minutes.
“The issue isn’t the salaries themselves,” al-Jabri said. “The real problem is that the government pays for time, but it doesn’t get results.”
His warning highlights a growing concern: Iraq’s state system is expensive, slow, and focused on routine instead of real productivity.
