Eid al-Fitr, the religious holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, is normally one of the busiest times of year for small business holders in Iraq’s capital Baghdad. But with coronavirus lockdown measures in place, vendors are feeling the pinch.
Iraq’s lockdown measures, first introduced in March, were eased on May 10, allowing many businesses to reopen in daylight hours. A nighttime curfew remained in place.
On Friday however, as Muslims prepared to celebrate a more muted Eid al-Fitr at home, the government has imposed a complete nine-day lockdown.
Hassan Jassim, a local shopkeeper, told Rudaw on Thursday he had hoped to see more business in the run up to the holiday weekend. Now he will be forced to close again for more than a week.
“Last year was much better than this year. The protests ended, but they were followed by COVID-19,” Jassim said, referring to the months-long unrest which rocked the capital late last year.
“Business is very weak. Before last year’s Eid, we sold goods worth 700,000-800,000 [Iraqi dinars] ($588-$672) per day, but this year it’s 100,000-200,000 ($84-168),” he said.
Several vendors say they haven’t bothered to restock their shelves – they still haven’t shifted their old stock.
“We did not buy any goods [for the shop] during Ramadan but we have not been able to sell even those goods already in the shop,” Jabir Ahmed, another shopkeeper, told Rudaw.
“Some of them have been damaged. The business is weak and no one buys goods. Today is the last day [before Eid] when usually markets are crowded, but this is not the case [this year].”
In mid-May, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Iraq published the results of a survey analyzing the pandemic’s impact on 456 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
It found that sales have been severely impacted by the lockdown measures. The construction and manufacturing, food and agriculture, services, wholesale, and retail sectors all estimate an average sales loss of 71 percent.
Respondents told IOM they view financial support (62 percent) and the lifting of curfew measures (16 percent) as the most important measures to help them survive the pandemic.
Lifting the lockdown in Baghdad early has led to a spike in new coronavirus cases – 113 new infections on Thursday alone.
The Iraqi capital has seen the lion’s share of cases, with 3,877 recorded infections to date.
“If we adhere to this [nine-day] lockdown, we may be able to control coronavirus,” Mohammed Jabir Atta, the governor of Baghdad, told Rudaw on Thursday.
“During the [previous] lockdown, the number of cases was very low but now it has increased because there is no lockdown in Baghdad.”
The Iraqi Aviation Authority has extended its suspension of commercial flights until May 31, according to a statement published by Sulaimani International Airport on Thursday night.
by Mustafa Goran
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