Iraq Economic News and Points to Ponder Thursday Afternoon 3-7-24

News

Mar 7

Tlm724 Administrator Bondlady’s Corner

Government Efforts To Ease US Sanctions On Banks

Economy | 03/07/2024 Mawazine News - Baghdad, an expert in financial affairs, Mahmoud Dagher, confirmed that the Iraqi government and the Central Bank are dissatisfied with the nature of the US Treasury’s dealings with Iraqi banks, pointing out that there is an effort to lift the sanctions in light of a difficult political framework and a more difficult regional atmosphere.

Dagher said in a televised interview followed by Mawazine News, “The current government administration and the Central Bank are dissatisfied with the nature of the Treasury’s dealings with Iraqi banks and are making an effort within a difficult political framework and a more difficult regional atmosphere,” noting that the Iraqi ambassador in Washington visited the US Treasury and there is work to resolve or Reducing the severity of sanctions.

Regarding the public sector’s control over projects, Dagher stated, “The largest government bank possesses a capital of 130 billion dinars and controls all state deposits, while the smallest bank in the private sector possesses a capital of 300 billion dinars in light of a clear government restriction on the expansion of the sector’s work.” private".

The financial expert described the expansion of the public sector as “ownership, not performance,” noting that “the reason is due to the Ministry of Finance’s monopoly on the labor and investment market in the country.”

Dagher stated, “The public sector needs a sovereign fund, not a fund within the budget.”

https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=243415

An Analytical Vision Of The International Monetary Fund Regarding The Government And Central Bank’s Actions To Recover The Iraqi Economy

Samir Al-Nusairi In light of the assessment by the experts of the International Monetary Fund mission of the measures taken by the government and the Central Bank, which contributed to preserving the transition of the Iraqi economy from a state of fragility to a gradual recovery during the second half of 2023, as it became clear that “growth in the non-oil sector rose strongly in the year 2023 by 6%.” % of the gross domestic product, with inflation declining to 4% after it was 7.5% at the beginning of the year.

This comes due to the Central Bank’s measures to control the general level of prices and reduce inflation, which is the most prominent monetary policy task that has been achieved, which is the lowest inflation rates achieved for the year 2023 in regional and Arab countries.

It was achieved due to the efforts made in organizing the financing of foreign trade and cooperation with the government in securing basic foodstuffs and providing... Ration card materials at subsidized prices.

The occurrence of these developments is due to the stability of the foreign exchange market and the safety and transparency of 95% of foreign transfers to traders and importers via the electronic platform and at the official rate, in addition to opening direct dealings with up to 30 foreign and Arab correspondent banks and opening dealings in the local currencies of countries with which Iraq has important trade exchanges, such as China, Turkey and the Emirates. And India.

After some interruptions following the implementation of new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls on cross-border payments in November 2022, improved compliance with the new system and CBI initiatives to reduce transaction processing times led to a recovery in trade finance in the second half of 2023.

The IMF welcomed "the initial steps taken towards establishing the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which is a critical tool for improving cash liquidity management." It is necessary to point out here the “efforts made by the Central Bank aimed at getting rid of surplus liquidity.

The Central Bank increased the interest rate on monetary policy tools and raised mandatory reserve requirements. It also began issuing treasury bills with a maturity of 14 days last summer.”

Therefore, the Fund called for supporting the existing efforts of the Central Bank by consolidating unused government deposits in the unified treasury account, refraining from pro-cyclical financial policy, reducing dependence on monetary financing, and improving public debt management, and from an insightful view of the International Monetary Fund, it confirms

However, the steps taken by the government and the Central Bank to accelerate the digital transformation of the economy, reduce dependence on cash and enhance financial inclusion, which supports the plans to launch a financial inclusion strategy.

Official statistics indicate that 558 government agencies deployed electronic payment tools in 2023, compared to 12 government agencies in 2022. The number of employee salary localization cards reached 8,653,000 cards, the number of issued cards was 17,822,310 cards, and the value of the use of electronic payment tools in 2023 amounted to approximately 12 million dollars through 32,842 transactions. 202 views 03/07/2024 - https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=41207

The Iraq Stock Exchange Announces Weekly Trading Indicators

Money and business Economy News – Baghdad Today, Thursday, the Iraq Stock Exchange announced the weekly trading indicators.

“The Iraqi Stock Exchange organized five trading sessions during the first week of March 2024, from Sunday (March 3) to Thursday (March 7),” a statement received by “Talta News” said.

The statement added: “The following indicators were achieved during this week:

1. The number of shares traded during this week reached more than 18 billion shares.

2. The value of shares traded this week amounted to more than 15 billion dinars.

3. The market trading index closed for the first session of the week at (925.04) points, while the index closed at the end of the week at (933.85) points, achieving an increase of (0.94%) from its close at the first session.

4. During the week (3769) purchase and sale contracts were executed on the shares of companies listed in the market.” Views 55 03/07/2024 - https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=41224

A Slight Increase In Oil Prices Due To A Smaller-Than-Expected Increase In US Crude Inventories

Thursday 07, March 2024 09:06 | Economical Number of readings: 351

Baghdad / NINA / Oil prices rose about 1% due to a smaller-than-expected increase in US crude inventories and a decrease in distillate and gasoline inventories.

Brent crude futures rose 92 cents, or 1.1%, to $82.96 per barrel upon settlement, bringing Brent rose for the first time in five days.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures also increased 98 cents, or 1.3%, to $79.13 per barrel.

The US Energy Information Administration said that crude inventories rose by 1.4 million barrels to 448.5 million in the week ending March 1, compared to analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for an increase of 2.1 million.

She indicated that gasoline stocks decreased by 4.5 million barrels to 239.7 million, compared to analysts’ expectations of a decrease of 1.6 million./ End

https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=1111636

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Provoking Points to Ponder on Decisions

The moment a question comes to your mind, see yourself mentally taking hold of it and disposing of it. In that moment... you learn to become the decider and not the vacillator. Thus you build character. - H. Van Anderson

So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don't sit there. If we screw it up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we've satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late. - Lee Iacocca

Often greater risk is involved in postponement than in making a wrong decision. - Harry A. Hopf

Some persons are very decisive when it comes to avoiding decisions. - Brendan Francis

Do not wait for ideal circumstances, nor the best opportunities; they will never come. - Janet Erskine Stuart

http://famousquotesandauthors.com/quotes_by_topic.html

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