Some "Tuesday News" Posted by Clare at KTFA 3-26-2024
KTFA:
Clare: From Tuesday until Saturday.. Iraq announces the Eid al-Fitr holiday
3/26/2024
The Iraqi government announced the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which extends from the ninth of next April until the 13th.
The media office of the Iraqi Prime Minister said in a statement, received by Shafaq News Agency, that the Council approved considering the Eid al-Fitr holiday, starting from Tuesday, April 9, 2024, until Saturday, April 13, 2024, provided that official working hours will resume in all government institutions, On Sunday, April 14, 2024. LINK
Clare: Parliamentary Finance: Budget tables arrive before the Eid holiday
3/26/2024
The Parliamentary Finance Committee expected that the budget tables for the current year 2024 would arrive in the House of Representatives before the Eid al-Fitr holiday.
Committee member, Moeen Al-Kazemi, said in a press statement, “The 2024 budget schedules have not yet arrived from the government, even though we are in the month of March, and the government was supposed to send them before the end of last year and submit them to Parliament for approval,” noting, “The Ministry of Finance has completed The proposed amendments to the budget.”
He added that the Ministry of Planning has completed the investment budget and now the tables are in the body of advisors at the Prime Minister’s Office and have been presented to the Prime Minister, expecting that “the amendments to the 2024 budget will reach the House of Representatives before Eid al-Fitr.”
On March 13, the Ministry of Finance announced the completion of data related to the 2024 budget schedules, the inclusion of texts, and sending them to the Council of Ministers.
The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Saleh, confirmed {to Al-Furat News} that the House of Representatives’ approval of the budget schedules for the year 2024 does not hinder their implementation. LINK
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Deputy: Al-Sudani will raise the issue of lifting sanctions against Iraqi banks in Washington
3/26/2024 Baghdad
The representative of the Coordination Framework, Arif Al-Hamami, confirmed that Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani sought to negotiate directly with American officials to withdraw their forces from Iraq and end the tasks of the international coalition.
Al-Hamami said in an interview followed by Mawazine News: “Al-Sudani will emphasize the security partnership and support of the Iraqi forces in the field of training and armament, and work to lift the American veto on Iraq’s contract to purchase advanced air defense systems,” indicating the existence of “an undeclared American veto so that The Iraqi sky is under American control and it penetrates it whenever it wants without any deterrent.”
Al-Hamami added, “Al-Sudani’s discussions in the White House will focus on the financial and economic file, especially related to the American sanctions on some Iraqi banks, and the impact of that on Iraq, and seeking to lift those sanctions and working to find a mechanism to pay Iraq’s foreign debts.”
The visit to Washington is considered a protocol procedure used by successive Iraqi government heads after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, and it usually occurs in the first months of assuming office.
However, Al-Sudani’s visit, in his capacity as head of a government emerging from a political alliance (the Coordination Framework), which declared on more than one occasion his opposition to the United States and his work to remove its military presence from the country, may take it out of its usual context this time, especially since the files that Al-Sudani is carrying to Washington will not Be acceptable to America. LINK
Clare: Preserving foreign reserves.. An Iraqi academic study answers the question “The stability of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar”
3/25/2024
At a time when the price of the dollar is still fluctuating between high and low, forcing the market to live in a state of some kind of confusion, because the hard currency constitutes an important tool in Iraqi trade, as it is a trade that depends on imports for most of the products in the local market, On Monday, a researcher whose master’s thesis was discussed at the College of Administration and Economics at Tikrit University put forward some possible solutions for controlling the price of the dollar, as his thesis came about the role of the central bank and the currency selling window, their role in stabilizing the dinar against the dollar, and the importance of maintaining foreign currency reserves. .
Researcher Ahmed Abdullah Akil told Shafaq News Agency, “The study aims to know and measure the extent of the impact of some of the central bank’s tools in achieving stability in the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar during the period (2004 - 2022) in order to know the places of imbalance and negatives that hinder achieving Stability of the value of the local currency according to what is appropriate to the nature of the Iraqi economy, as the goal of maintaining the value of the local currency was the primary goal of the bank with the aim of maintaining the price level, which is essentially linked to the exchange rate of the local dinar against the US dollar.
He added, "The study variables were analyzed and measured according to the (Eviews 13) program, and it was found that there is a positive and significant relationship between some of the central bank's tools as independent variables and the official and parallel exchange rates as dependent variables in the short term, with some negative and positive correlations to some variables in the long term, as It was noted that some tools were ineffective in influencing the currency exchange rate, such as the legal reserve, the rediscount rate, and open market operations, but the effect of some of them was limited to inflation.
He pointed out that "while the effect of the interest rate and the window was positive on the value of the local currency as a result of its reduction in the nominal exchange rate, this indicates the ability of the central bank to influence the stability of the exchange rate of the local currency against the foreign currency, especially through the currency selling window throughout the study period, except for some In the last years of the study period, the nominal exchange rate rose again, and so did the parallel market, by decision of the monetary authority represented by the Central Bank, for the purpose of confronting public expenditures and confronting the repercussions of the global health crisis related to the Corona epidemic and the accompanying decline in oil prices, which is the main source of the dollar. America because of the rentier nature of the Iraqi economy.”
He continued: “It was also noted that the gap between the official exchange rate and its counterpart in the parallel market increased due to the increased demand for foreign currency, and the study presented a number of recommendations, the most important of which is continuing the operation of the window without excessive use of foreign reserves and diversifying the sources of obtaining foreign currency by pushing the wheel of development and activating the real sector.” Industry and agriculture, in order to achieve a reduction in imports, which reduces the depletion of the currency, in addition to tightening control measures to prevent the smuggling of foreign currency and actions that affect the supply of it, which contributes to the stability of the local currency exchange rate.”
He stressed that "continuing to operate the currency selling window without compromising on foreign reserves, and diversifying the sources of obtaining foreign currency so that the exchange rate does not remain hostage to oil prices as it is almost the only source of obtaining foreign currency."
He stated that "advancing the wheel of development in Iraq, activating the real sector, revitalizing industry and agriculture to reduce imports, relieving pressure on foreign dollar reserves, distancing the Central Bank from political pressures, granting it the necessary powers to deal with fluctuations in the economic situation, including exchange rate fluctuations, and tightening supervisory measures to prevent foreign currency smuggling." abroad so as not to affect the supply of foreign currency, and thus the value of the local currency.” LINK
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Clare: Signing an Iraqi-British agreement for joint cooperation in the stock market
3/26/2024
The Securities Commission announced, on Tuesday, the signing of a joint cooperation agreement with the British Chartered Institute for Securities, which includes the exchange of information related to financial training programs, confirming that the agreement represents a qualitative shift in the work of brokers in the stock market.
Deputy Chairman of the Securities Commission, Nagham Hussein, told Shafaq News Agency, “Today, the Iraqi Securities Commission signed a cooperation agreement with the British Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, which stipulates the establishment of a framework for cooperation and exchange of information related to financial training programs for securities markets and services to develop and maintain capabilities.” HR".
She added, "The articles of the agreement include the possibility of organizing training courses for Iraqi cadres to benefit from the experiences of financial markets in countries around the world, and developing the professional framework by imposing the qualifications of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment on local Iraqi institutes specialized in the field of securities."
For his part, Chairman of the Securities Commission, Faisal Al-Haims, told Shafak, “The agreement has been worked on by the Securities Commission for about a year. The signing of an agreement in cooperation between the Securities Commission and the British Royal Institute in licensing the capital markets is a highly professional certificate recognized in all countries of the world.”
He pointed out that "this agreement represents a qualitative shift in the work of brokers in the stock market in terms of stimulating the financial performance of companies and their ability to add new skills, not in the Iraqi stock market, but in other markets, both regional and global." LINK