Baghdad, Apr 20 (IANS): Iraq's Ministry of Planning said the country's poverty rate has increased to about 27 per cent after the central bank devalued the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar, the official al-Sabah newspaper reported.

"The devaluation of the Iraqi dinar pushed up the poverty rate to about 27 per cent, but the Ministry had completed a reform and recovery plan to respond to the economic and health crises," Xinhua news agency quoted Ministry spokesman Abdul-Zahara al-Hindawi as saying to al-Sabah on Monday.

The three-year plan (2021-2023) comprises three tracks: improving the private sector to boost the national economy, supporting public services, and addressing development gaps between provinces, according to al-Sabah.

On March 16, the Ministry said the poverty rate in Iraq reached 24.8 per cent in the second half of 2020, down from 31.7 per cent in the first half of the year under the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

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.