Iraq has revealed the development of five new residential cities across the country to address its current housing crisis, reported Zawya.

Contracts for the new cities will be awarded shortly by the country's National Investment Commission (NIC).

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani said that these cities will be built for all citizens at a low cost, reported the Iraqi News Agency.

Al-Sudani was quoted by the news agency as saying: “We have been working on several tracks since the formation of the government to help the poor. The new residential cities are for all citizens, not just for employees.

“We will build new residential cities with integrated services, not residential complexes. The new cities will provide complete services and the prices will not be high. We will distribute plots of land in serviced areas, in addition to the new residential cities.”

According to NIC spokesperson Muthanna al-Ghanimi, the five new cities are to be developed in the country's capital of Baghdad, Nineveh in the north of the country, the western Al-Anbar Governorate, as well as the Karbala and Babylon governorates.

The NIC will grant contracts to both domestic and international interested parties.

Al-Ghanimi added: “Only serious and experienced firms will be permitted to bid for such projects…companies which have proved efficient in executing previous projects will have a bigger chance of winning the contracts.”