Saturday Afternoon Iraq Economic News Highlights 7-8-23

Al-Saadi: Importers' dependence on the dollar is behind its failure to devalue it in the parallel market

Economic affairs researcher Muhammad Al-Saadi explained, on Friday, that the total dependence of importing traders on the dollar in the parallel market is behind its continued rise in the parallel market.

Al-Saadi said in a press interview seen by “Takadam” that “many merchants, especially importers, depend on the dollar on the black market, and they did not go to the electronic platform in order to obtain the dollar at the official rate.”

He added, "The lack of locally produced commodities pushes the merchant to go abroad in order to import, and therefore he has the option of going to obtain the dollar from the official platform, and he may go to erase the parallel market in order to obtain the currency as quickly as possible."

And he indicated that “the volume of demand for buying the dollar, especially by speculators and traders, made some exchange shop owners monopolize the currency and store it in order to raise its value in the parallel market and obtain great benefits, despite the government’s measures to control prices.”   https://takadum-news.com/archives/172567

Parliamentary Finance Committee: The Government Will Win The Appeals Case Against The Budget Law

Policy   2023/07/07 21:06  Number of readings: 426   Baghdad - Iraq today:  The Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed, today, Friday, that the government's appeals against the budget law are realistic, especially in some paragraphs in which the House of Representatives exceeded its powers by placing it.

Committee member Jamal Cougar said in a press interview, “The government's approach to the Federal Court to challenge some budget articles takes place in all countries of the world, and that the House of Representatives has the right to legislate what it deems appropriate from laws, and other authorities, whether executive or judicial, have the right to appeal.” In it, and this is what happened to the 12 articles and paragraphs that were included by the House of Representatives in the Financial Budget Law.

Cougar added, "The government's appeals are realistic, because the House of Representatives exceeded its powers in some paragraphs, especially in the articles that were challenged, adding that there was no consensus in the Finance Committee on those paragraphs, but they were passed by a simple majority vote.”

He pointed out that "the government relied on two issues, namely the government program that Parliament voted on and turned into something like a law, as well as the issue of separation of powers, which means that any paragraph that has a financial cost is exclusively within the powers of the executive body.”

And Cougar suggested that "the government will win all appeals, because" unfortunately, the deputy's job has become to make promises to his fans about appointments and jobs, and this is not his prerogative. Therefore, resorting to the Federal Court is the right way before the government. LINK

Parliamentary Planning Constitutes A Committee To Monitor The Implementation Of The General Budget

Iraq  11:06 - 2023-07-08  The Parliamentary Strategic Planning Committee confirmed, on Saturday, the formation of a committee to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the federal general budget and the government program during the next six months.

"A directive was issued by the committee's presidency to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the ministerial program directly and continuously by following up on the implementation and disbursement of the federal budget to avoid wasting it," Deputy Chairman of the committee, MP Muhammad Karim, said in a press interview.

Karim added, "Monitoring and evaluating the ministerial program and the general budget is the responsibility of the Strategic Planning and Federal Service Committee during the coming period."

He pointed out that "the Parliamentary Integrity Committee and the Bureau of Financial Supervision are working on sectoral follow-up by distributing committees to every ministry or government institution that is not linked to a ministry."

Karim pointed out that "the Planning Committee is directly responsible for monitoring and evaluating the ministerial curriculum," noting that "the reports of the sectoral authorities are submitted to the committee for the purpose of evaluation."    https://kirkuktv.net/AR/Details/16165

The Minister Of Commerce Directs The Advanced Staff To Work All Days Of The Week, In The Morning And Evening

FRI, 07-07-2023, TAYSEER AL-ASADI  Today, Friday, the Minister of Commerce, Atheer Daoud Al-Ghurairy, directed the advanced staff to work throughout the week, morning and evening.

The ministry stated in a press statement, "According to the directives of the Prime Minister during the cabinet meeting, the Minister of Commerce, Atheer Dawood Al-Ghurairy, directed the advanced cadres in the ministry, that working hours should be throughout the week, in the form (morning and evening), with what they need from the cadres of departments and companies."

The ministry said, "Minister Al-Ghurairy's directive came out of keenness to take advantage of the time in implementing the government program and to make every effort to achieve what we promised our people in providing the best services."   https://non14.net/public/158319

Serious Steps To Reduce Currency Smuggling

Iraq  2023/07/08   Baghdad: Muhannad Abdel-  Wahhab Politicians and experts said that the Ministry of Interior is working to follow up the currency market to limit currency smuggling operations that take place through the issuance of credit cards, and the steps of the executive agencies coincide with the implementation of the instructions of the Central Bank of Iraq in this regard.

A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mueen Al-Kazemi, told Al-Sabah: “When the central bank system allowed the transfer of funds through (MasterCard) to travelers, there was support for this step that would serve the traveler, but it was circumvented by collecting hundreds of cards.”

Or issuing it illegally by some private banks, then the currency difference in other countries is benefited through one person who travels with hundreds of cards, so the government and the central bank paid attention to this fraudulent process.

He added, "The government has taken appropriate legal measures with regard to smuggling through cards, and the most important thing is the smuggling of money or what is transferred in transfers of tens of millions of dollars for which the required goods do not come, or that what is given to banks is not transferred in a proper manner," stressing that "The government will control this dilemma over time, and the price of the parallel dollar will be close to the official rate."

For his part, the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, Khaled Al-Muhanna, stated that "there are procedures for the Ministry of the Interior through auditing and raising awareness that dealing is in the Iraqi dinar and following the contexts and laws of the Central Bank of Iraq,"

and he added in an interview with "Al-Sabah", that "the second part is to carry out campaigns To circulate these internal messages to include the largest number of traders, and there will be accountability for everyone who deals outside the framework of the law in foreign currencies.

In the meantime, the Rafidain and Al-Rasheed banks decided to raise the ceiling for the exchange of dollars for travelers to the amount of 3 thousand dollars, starting tomorrow, Sunday, in order to contribute to strengthening the stability of exchange rates.

In addition, the economic expert, Dr. Majid Al-Suri, explained, in an interview with "Al-Sabah", that "the economic chaos that Iraq has suffered from during the last three decades and was rooted after the occupation in 2003, the opening of border crossings wide, the absence of a clear economic policy, the confusion in financial policy and the expansion of Operational expenses and lack of interest in economic and social development,

while encouraging the free market economy policy and not applying the constitution and the laws in force, all of this, has made Iraq a great hotbed of administrative and financial corruption, speculation and unregulated behavior in economic operations in general and commercial in particular.

And he continued: “There are efforts made and are being made by the Central Bank in controlling foreign trade through monetary policy measures as a result of local and international requirements and the government’s efforts to help achieve this with cooperation to support the Iraqi dinar, and an attempt to reduce the monetary circulation of the dinar, and encourage electronic trading,

which is an experience that is not In the old days in Iraq, all of these measures led to pressure on the forces supporting the old directions," stressing that "the old guard worked and is working to defend its gains and will continue to work in all legal and illegal ways and resort to circumventing the law and the instructions that were issued."

He added, "The fact that the Ministry of the Interior is grateful for the disclosure of currency smuggling operations through credit cards and others is part of the efforts made by the government to control the implementation of the law and fight corruption and corrupt behaviors by stakeholders who will defend their gains in every way,

but such operations Unilateral measures cannot eliminate all these manifestations as long as the border crossings are not regulated by the existence of administrative and financial corruption, as long as foreign and internal trade procedures are not integrated, as long as currency speculation is present, and as long as economic and social development is not achieved and dependence on the global market is reduced in securing needs. the Iraqian people".

Edited by: Muhammad Al-Ansari  https://www.patreon.com/posts/85774435?pr=true

Burning A Quarter Of A Million Barrels Per Day At The Height Of Summer

The first  2023/07/08  Rula Wathiq  The Committee on Oil, Gas and Natural Resources in the House of Representatives revealed that Iraq burns nearly a quarter of a million barrels per day at the height of the summer season.

Committee member Kazem Al-Touki told Al-Sabah that "the quantity is distributed between crude fuel, fuel oil and gas oil," noting that "the shift towards clean energy saves Iraq from burning these quantities."

Al-Touki added, "The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is not limited to the quantities exported only, but even the oil used in the production of electricity, packaging and internal consumption of countries, including Iraq."

He pointed out that "the entry of cars into the country exceeded the natural growth, and this affected the need for daily consumption," noting that Iraq "will need 40 million liters of gasoline per day by the year 2035, after its consumption has so far reached 28 million liters per day of gasoline. It requires the establishment and development of many refineries to meet the current  and future needs. https://alsabaah.iq/80173-.html

Oil: The National Strategy Aims To Invest In Free And Associated Gas

Iraq  2023/07/08  Al-Sabah, Oil Minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani discussed, yesterday, Friday, with the Secretary-General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, Muhammad Hamel, developments in the growth of the gas sector in Iraq.

A statement of the ministry stated, “The Minister of Oil met in Vienna with the Secretary-General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, and they discussed During the meeting, they discussed developments in the growth of the gas sector in the world, as the importance of supporting gas and renewable energy investment projects was emphasized, and the role played by the oil and gas sector in addressing environmental impacts.

He pointed out, "The Minister of Oil gave a briefing on the development of the gas sector in Iraq through government support for the optimal investment of gas wealth, reducing emissions and converting them into energy that contributes to strengthening related industries."

The Minister of Oil referred, according to the statement, to "the national strategy that aims to invest in free and associated gas, as well as to develop and invest in exploration sites with hydrocarbon-gas compositions - through cooperation with specialized international companies and the exploitation of smart technologies to increase energy efficiency."

For his part, the Secretary-General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum stressed "the importance of the role played by Iraq in the oil and energy sector," praising his "efforts in developing promising gas projects in Iraq." Meanwhile, the Minister of Oil confirmed that the ministry aims to produce 1,500 million cubic feet of natural gas.

Abdul-Ghani said, in a press statement, on the sidelines of the activities of the Eighth International OPEC Conference in Vienna: “Iraq has offered two rounds of licensing for exploration of oil and gas fields, and the fifth is the complementary one that included more than 10 oil and gas fields in western Iraq, and the sixth includes 13 fields and exploratory sites.”

It is located on the western borders of Iraq, which enables us to produce more than 1,500 million cubic feet of gas, with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency over the next five years.

He added, "Iraq has large oil reserves amounting to 144.5 billion cubic meters of oil, and more than 133 trillion standard cubic feet of gas," noting that "Iraq has many fields that produce large quantities of oil and gas through cooperation with many countries." of international companies. The minister touched on the oil production capacity, and said:

"The oil production capacity in Iraq currently reaches 5 million and 400 thousand barrels per day, while the current total production under OPEC's share reaches 4 million and 430 thousand barrels per day, with our aspiration within promising plans to raise production capacity to 6 million barrels per day, through licensing contracts concluded with companies during the next stage.   https://alsabaah.iq/80157-.html