An employee of a currency exchange counter, shows a stack of local currency bank notes in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar province, on December 20, 2020. - A year of economic agony for pandemic-hit and oil-reliant Iraq is drawing to a close, but a draft 2021 budget involving a hefty currency devaluation could bring more pain for citizens.
Iraq, which relies on oil sales to finance 90 percent of its budget, projects that its economy has shrunk by 11 percent this year, while poverty doubles to 40 percent of the country's 40 million residents. (Photo by Asaad NIAZI / AFP)
