The Iraqi government on Sunday announced the third in a series of new measures to meet the legitimate demands of the recent protests and the aspirations of the Iraqi people.

Click here to read more about the government other measures which were announced earlier

The latest initiatives focus on jobs, training and support for small enterprises. They also include proposed changes to current retirement and income tax laws.

On training and job-creation, the measures include:

•  Training courses lasting for 3 months or longer in the area of  maintenance of electrical transformers used in the electricity distribution sector in Iraq. The courses will be tailor-made for unemployed young people who do not have a university degree, but  who have completed their intermediate, secondary or technical education.
• Trainees will be paid a monthly allowance of 150,000 Iraqi dinars during the training course.
• Trainees who successfully complete the training course will be paid a monthly allowance of 250,000 Iraqi dinars for six months to help them develop further their skills.
•  Groups of trainees consisting of three people or more who wish to establish their own industrial workshops will be granted a loan.
•  The Ministry of Electricity will contract these workshops as needed.

Amending the Retirement Law

The Iraqi government is also proposing amending Retirement Law number (9) of 2014 to include:

•   Reducing the retirement age for all state employees to 60 years, except for those working in the university sector where the age of retirement shall be 63.
•  Reducing the voluntary retirement age to 45 years, provided the employee has completed 15 years in service.

These will need to be approved by Parliament before they become law.

Amending the Income Tax Law

The government announced a draft amendment to Income Tax Law No. 113 of  1982 to exempt several groups on low-income from paying income tax. The proposed amendment also exempts small and medium size businesses from paying income tax for ten years.

The government also announced that a dedicated team at the Prime Minister’s Office will be responsible for receiving complaints from citizens and will work to remove obstacles caused by red tape