Baghdad, Jan 8 (IANS): The Iraqi Ministry of Planning has said that the poverty rate in the country was 25 per cent in 2022, the Iraqi official news agency reported.

"The high poverty rate is due to several reasons, including the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic during the years 2020 and 2021 and the economic crisis that resulted from the drop in oil prices," Spokesman of the Ministry Abdul-Zahara al-Hindawi told the state-run Iraqi News Agency on Saturday.

He said that the government took several measures to support the vulnerable and the poor, such as raising the salaries of those covered by social care and improving the ration card system that provides basic foodstuff to Iraqi families, Xinhua news agency reported.

The overall security situation has been relatively improved in Iraq since the defeat of the Islamic State group late in 2017. But significant challenges remain, including political and security maladies, economic instability, social unrest caused by high unemployment, eroded public services, and persistent low standards of living.