Early Friday Morning Iraq News 4-14-22
Early Friday Morning Iraq News 4-14-22
Iraq's Budget For 2022 Awaits "Mercy" Approval
"The current government will not submit the budget law to the House of Representatives and will leave it to the next government."
The Independent Arabic Fri April 15 2022 5:05 The political blockage that Iraq suffers from has caused delays in approving the budget , even though the country suffers from many economic problems and that its delay will negatively affect the life of the Iraqi citizen. The political debate continues over the mechanism of sending the budget by the caretaker government to the House of Representatives for approval.
In this regard, the Ministry of Planning announced, Thursday, April 14, 2022, that the current government will not submit the budget law to the House of Representatives.
The technical representative of the ministry, Maher Hammad, told the official agency, "The current government will not submit the budget law to the House of Representatives, but will leave it to the next government." He added that "the emergency support law will deal with food security and projects until the adoption of the new budget."
Authorizing A Government To Send The Budget
The First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hakim Al-Zamili, announced, on Tuesday, March 12, 2022, that Parliament will vote to authorize the caretaker government to send the budget law to the House.
Al-Zamili stressed that "the emergency food security and development law will not be a substitute for the budget, and it came to a certain stage with the aim of addressing the most prominent emergency cases and issues for the country," noting that "the council will vote on authorizing the caretaker government to send the draft budget law for the current year, as well as laws The task that urgently needs the citizens of the House of Representatives.”
He called on "the Finance Committee to provide the Presidency of the Council with the final version of the draft law after the necessary amendments have matured, so that it is included on the agenda of the nearest session to vote on it as well."
The head of the caretaker government, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, had called on the political forces to work hard to agree on a formula for forming the government, carrying out its duties, working on preparing the 2022 budget, and fulfilling its obligations towards citizens.
Legislation Of The Budget Law
In turn, the legal expert, Ali Al-Tamimi, clarified about the possibility of the caretaker government sending the general budget law to Parliament.
Al-Tamimi said in a press statement, "The necessity requires legislating the budget law, as it relates to people's livelihood and livelihood, and despite the fact that the government is a day-to-day management government that does not have the right to propose a draft budget law, but the higher interest and food security, which is one of the first priorities of the government of daily affairs." They enjoin that."
He added that "Article 62 of the Constitution requires the government to submit the final accounts to Parliament before approving the budget," noting that "Article 8 of the Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019 required the Ministry of Finance and Planning to submit the draft general budget law to the Council of Ministers in early September ( September) of each year.
Al-Tamimi explained that “Article 11 of the Financial Management Law obligated the Council of Ministers, after receiving the budget, to submit it to Parliament after discussing it in mid-October,” noting that “Article 13 of the law said in the event that the general budget law is not approved until December 31 ( December) The Minister of Finance issues instructions for the disbursement of 1/12 of the total expenditures.
And he indicated that "the above law authorized the submission of the final accounts for the previous year and their approval by Parliament in the event of a delay in budget legislation."
Repercussions And Impact Of The Delay
The Iraqi Political Economic Center revealed the repercussions and impact of the delay in approving the 2022 budget on the Iraqi economic situation in general.
The director of the center, Wissam Hadmal Al-Helou, said in a statement, "The economic situation in Iraq suffers from economic problems, and the delay in approving the budget until now due to the political blockage between the political blocs, will negatively affect the life of the Iraqi citizen."
Al-Hilu indicated that "the law of 12/1, which is currently followed by the Iraqi government, is a business conduct only, and is no longer sufficient to manage the Iraqi state's expenditures, because the construction of the 2021 budget was based on the price of a barrel of oil set at 45 dollars, and today oil prices have reached more than 100 dollars, according to According to the data, prices are on the rise and fluctuations due to the Russian-Ukrainian war."
Al-Helou believed that "the global economic situation requires Iraq to create a new economic mechanism and enact new economic laws in line with the current economic and political events in the world, in order to achieve sound economic security reinforced by governmental economic committees and with the participation of Iraqi private sector institutions and a number of experts and specialists in the economic field."
Provided that the committees are real, not formal, ineffective and not influential in the government decision, and the tasks of the committees are to follow up and monitor global markets and economic variables and come up with studied economic proposals that work to alleviate the burdens of the Iraqi citizen. LINK
What Is The Truth About The Existence Of Discussions To Reduce The Price Of The Dollar? .. Finance Clarifies
04/14/2022 Earth News / The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, Taif Sami, denied, today, Thursday, the existence of discussions to restore the exchange rate.
Sami said in a statement received by Earth News, that "there is no truth to the news circulating on social media and attributed to the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance about the existence of ongoing discussions to re-reduce the dollar price to 120 thousand dinars within the 2022 budget."
Sami affirmed that she "does not have any page on social media," calling for "be careful not to believe what is published." LINK
The Dollar Rises To Its Highest Level In Two Decades Against The Yen
Shafaq News/ The dollar rose to a two-decade high against the yen, and remained close to a two-year high against the euro on Friday, as hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials boosted expectations of a faster US policy tightening.
The dollar rose 0.43% at 126.40 yen after earlier hitting 126.56 for the first time since May 2002.
The euro fell 0.14% to $1.0812, heading back towards an overnight low of $1.0785, a level not seen since April 2020.
The dollar index rose 0.08% to 100.48, retreating towards a two-year high of 100.78 hit on Thursday.
Over the course of the week, it is up 0.64%, while the Euro is down 0.58%.
Against the yen, the dollar rose 1.71%, heading for the sixth consecutive week.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar hovered near a three-week low of $0.7392 reached on Wednesday, down 0.2% on the day at $0.7404.
Cryptocurrency bitcoin continued to consolidate near a four-week low of $39218.15 reached on Monday, last trading at $40.005.50. LINK
The World Bank Announces In Numbers The Recovery Of The Iraqi Economy
Political | 08:55 - 14/04/2022 Baghdad - Mawazine News, today, Thursday, the World Bank announced, in numbers, the recovery of the Iraqi economy, while it expected that the overall growth for the current year would rise to 8.9%.
And the World Bank said in a report, that "Iraq's economy has begun to gradually recover from the double shocks of the epidemic and the collapse of oil prices," noting that "oil and non-oil growth are on the right track to reach pre-epidemic levels with increased oil production and the easing of Corona restrictions."
He added, "Financial and external deficits returned to surpluses with the continued rise in oil prices," expecting "the medium-term growth to be driven by the oil sector, with the gradual cancellation of OPEC + production cuts."
"The outlook remains subject to significant risks, including uncertainties related to the impact of geopolitical tensions, the ongoing pandemic, security challenges and climate change," the bank added.
And the World Bank confirmed in its report that “it is estimated that the real Iraqi GDP rose by 1.3 percent in 2021, after a sharp contraction of 11.3% in 2020, noting that “the recovery was mainly driven by the non-oil sector, which grew By 6% in 9 months of 2021 year-on-year, supported by the strong performance of the highly telecom sectors including the transportation, accommodation and retail sectors.
Regarding the Iraqi agricultural sector, the bank stated that “this sector shrank by 17.5% and 36.8%, respectively, in the wake of severe drought, power outages and the rise in global prices of inputs during 9 months of a year,” explaining that “the oil GDP shrank by 4% ( on an annual basis) as Iraq adjusted its oil production in accordance with the OPEC + agreement, and the general and core inflation rate rose to an average of 6% and 6.6% (on an annual basis) in 2021, respectively, after a 23% currency devaluation in December of 2020. and a gradual recovery in domestic demand.
And he indicated that "the shift in the oil markets led to a significant improvement in the economic outlook for Iraq in the medium term," expecting that "the total growth in the current year will reach 8.9% with the end of the OPEC + quotas and Iraq's production exceeding the pre-epidemic level of 4.6 million barrels per day." .
The World Bank indicated that "growth in the coming years will continue at an average of 3.7% with moderation in oil production." Ended 29 / h https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=1902
Baghdad Markets Closed On The Stability Of Dollar Exchange Rates
2022-04-15 05:54 Shafaq News/ The exchange rates of the dollar stabilized against the Iraqi dinar, today, Thursday, with the closure of the main stock exchange in Baghdad.
Shafak News Agency correspondent said that the Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya Central Stock Exchange closed in Baghdad at 147,775 Iraqi dinars. These are the same prices recorded this morning.
Our correspondent indicated that the buying and selling prices in banking shops in the local markets in Baghdad stabilized, as the selling price amounted to 148,250 Iraqi dinars, while the purchase prices amounted to 147,250 dinars per 100 US dollars. LINK
Al-Kazemi's Advisor: Iraq Is Living In Its Best Financial Condition
Baghdad - INA - Nassar Al-Hajj, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed today, Friday, that Iraq is living in its best financial conditions, while ruling out the government's resort to external borrowing.
Saleh said, in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "Iraq today is living in its best financial conditions in its modern history in terms of cash flows."
He called for "the necessity of employing these cash flows in productive investments for the resource of the national economy, as well as the operation of national human resources in activities that should be income-generating and wealth-promoting at the same time."
He added that "investment policies for large resources require operating them with economic joints in order to achieve financial and economic sustainability," noting that "exceptional circumstances are what impose a borrowing policy, including the deficit of government revenues due to the cycle of declining oil assets."
He stressed that "the rise in oil prices and the resulting large rentier revenues will obviate the idea of external government borrowing." https://www.ina.iq/153751--.html