Wednesday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 7-5-23
Wednesday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 7-5-23
An Iraqi Proposal To Deal In Dinars Instead Of Dollars With Iran
Money and business Economy News _ Baghdad The commercial adviser to the Iranian embassy in Iraq, Abd al-Amir Rabihawi, stated that pressure from the US treasury prevents the Iraqi side from using its official currency to transfer money to Iran, forcing it to use the free market currency, which differs by 10% from the official currency and harms Iranian merchants.
According to the Jahan Sanat News website, Rabihawi said, at the meeting of the Iranian-Iraqi Joint Chamber, that "trade with Iraq is traditionally possible so that money is exchanged with this country through exchange offices or cash."
Referring to the number of decision-making centers in Iraq and Iran, he explained: "In Iran, we have Iraqi offices in most ministries that take decisions on their own, and this is what led to a lack of centralization in decision-making in Iran and it has become a peninsula, which causes contradictory steps to be taken."
Rebihawi believes that Iraq is the best country for investment and export of goods in the region, stressing the importance of using this country for re-export, or benefiting from the advantage of transit through Iraqi territory to Europe or North Africa.
The Iranian trade advisor in Iraq stated that the central bank in this country distributes daily no less than 250 million dollars to the country's banks, and said: "The pressures of the American treasury prevent the Iraqi side from using its official currency to transfer funds to Iran, which forces it to use the market currency." The free currency, which differs by 10% from the official currency and harms Iranian merchants.
The Iranian official added, "Iraq suggested that all our financial dealings in Iraq be in dinars, even Turkish shops buy and sell in dinars in this country. Given the sanctions, this issue is in Iran's favor."
And he added, "Accordingly, we offered the Central Bank of Iran that Iranian businessmen and merchants trade in dinars instead of dollars."
Rabihawi confirmed that Iran is using its frozen funds in Iraq to buy 7 commodities that are not subject to sanctions, in addition to industrial equipment, medicines and foodstuffs.
He continued, "Iranian merchants must convince the Iraqis that the goods Iran exports to Iraq are non-sanctioned," declaring that the country exports 4,500 goods to Iraq that cover about 10% of its needs.
He added, "We must be frank with the Iraqis so that they realize that the issue of the price is very important to us regarding commercial exchanges with it, so that they return to us a difference of 10% of the price of the official and free currency."
Rabihawi stated that since the beginning of the arrival of tourists with the aim of treatment to Iran, brokers began to exploit this point and plunder money by increasing the cost of treatment several times, and he said: “It is true that medical tourism has become popular and has a noticeable demand by Iraqis, but it is subject to the control of merchants and brokers in Iraq There is a disagreement between the Ministry of Health and Tourism on the need to solve these problems.
In conclusion, he added that it was decided to establish 5 industrial cities on the Iranian-Iraqi borders.
Last week, the Iranian deputy oil minister for gas affairs said that the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity had paid Iran all gas-related debts.
“The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity has paid all our dues for gas, and the debt is now zero, but sometimes there are problems transferring money from the Iraqi TBI Bank to Iran,” Majid Chengy said.
In his statements, the Iranian official did not mention the amount of frozen funds in Iraqi banks.
For his part, Ahmed Musa, spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity, confirmed, on Monday, that his country had paid Iranian gas dues to Tehran and deposited them in the Trade Bank of Iraq.
He said, "The Ministry of Electricity has paid all dues owed by Iraq to Iran, which are dues for importing gas from it."
He added, "The dues were paid to the Iraqi Trade Bank in the Credit Fund, but the bank is finding difficulties in transferring them to the Iranian government because of the US sanctions."
Views 25 07/05/2023 https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=35012
Mahmoud Othman Confirms To / NINA / The Difficulty Of Implementing The Budget Items For The Kurdistan Region
Wednesday 05 July 2023 Politics Number of readings: 366 Baghdad / NINA / - The independent Kurdish politician, Mahmoud Othman, confirmed the difficulty of implementing the budget items for the Kurdistan region.
Othman said in a special statement to the National Iraqi News Agency ( NINA ) that the region has not submitted an appeal to the Federal Court on some paragraphs of the budget so far, and it is likely to be submitted soon, especially after the Parliamentary Finance. Committee changed the terms of the federal government's agreement with the region's government regarding the export of the region's oil and its revenues. ".
Othman explained: The region is waiting for the implementation of the budget from the federal government before taking any step towards it, pointing out that it is difficult for the region to export 400,000 barrels of oil per day, according to what was stated in the budget. , indicating that it was supposed to be determined between two numbers and less than 400,000. A lot of barrels so that the two parties, i.e. the governments of the region and the center, do not fall into new problems.
Dollar Exchange Rates Reach Up To 150,000 Dinars In Baghdad And Kurdistan
2023-07-05 77 Economy 0 Today, Wednesday, the exchange rates of the US dollar rose against the Iraqi dinar, to approach 1,500 dinars per dollar on the main stock exchange in the capital, Baghdad, and Erbil.
And the central Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya stock exchanges in Baghdad recorded this morning, an exchange rate of 148,100 Iraqi dinars, compared to 100 US dollars, while the prices recorded yesterday, Tuesday, were 147,600 dinars, compared to 100 dollars.
As for the dollar prices in exchange shops in the local markets in Baghdad, they have stabilized, as the selling price reached 149,000 dinars, while the purchase price reached 147,000 dinars for every 100 dollars.
As for Erbil in the Kurdistan region, the price of the dollar also increased, as the selling price reached 148,100 dinars, and the purchase price was 148,050 dinars for 100 dollars. LINK
An Economist Bears Speculators Rising Dollar Exchange
An economist blamed the “speculators” in the parallel market for the dollar, the high exchange rate against the Iraqi dinar.
Bassem Jamil Antoine said in a press interview seen by “Takadam” that: “The problem of the high exchange rates of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar is not related to the government or its procedures, but rather to speculators.”
He added, "There is an abundance of dollars in the local market, and it is present according to regular methods, and the solution to any economic problem cannot be solved by force, especially since the measures of the government and the central bank are very good."
It is noteworthy that the local markets are witnessing a rise in the exchange rate of the dollar, as it sometimes reaches 1490 dinars per dollar, while the official price set by the state is 132 thousand dinars.
And the reason for the rise in the dollar on local prices and sales, which caused a state of increasing stagnation with the lack of construction and the scarcity of investment projects that stopped years ago, in the hope that they will be initiated after the approval of the budget law that Parliament voted on on the 12th of last June. https://takadum-news.com/archives/172077
A New Government Talk Regarding The Budget And Dispatches
2023-07-04 Source: Alsumaria News 4,556 views Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani considered, on Tuesday, that there is no excuse for the ministers after approving the budget, while he called for reducing delegations.
Al-Sudani said during the cabinet session, "There is no excuse for ministers after approving the budget, and delegations must be reduced to continue work."
"We have corrected many wrong paths, and we will review the amended budget materials," he added.
Al-Sudani pointed out that "ministers must listen to citizens and national voices and stand up to blackmailers," stressing that "leading staff in ministries must be present and work throughout the day. And the House of Representatives voted, on (June 12, 2023), on the draft budget law for the years (2023) . 2024, 2025). LINK
The Government's Appeals To The Budget Avoided The "Kurdistan Clauses"
Posted On2023-07-05 By Sotaliraq Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hassan The government did not comment, until the moment of writing the report yesterday, on the series of appeals filed against the budget law.
And the statement denying the appeal from a government source is still published for the second day in a row, on the official agency website!
The judiciary and parliament, in turn, confirmed the news, and news platforms circulated a document containing 12 appeals submitted against the budget.
Members of the Finance Committee who supported the appeal found that the government had indirectly stopped the escalation of the budget deficit.
The appeals showed substantial decisions related to suspending hundreds of thousands of contracts and appointments, and the powers to grant lands to investors in the governorates.
On the other hand, the government avoided challenging the items that sparked a political crisis, which are related to the allocations of Kurdistan, which brought back talk once again about a government-framework consensus regarding what happened last month.
The legal department in Parliament said in a statement on Sunday that it had received "officially" Prime Minister Muhammad Shia'a al-Sudani's appeal of the budget law.
Representatives also mentioned that the Federal Court informed Parliament of the government's appeal, but the strange thing is that the government has not yet commented on the news.
The official news agency says in a news item it published on Sunday evening (it is still published), quoting an unnamed government source: "There is no truth to Prime Minister Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani's appeal against the articles of the general budget law."
Political circles believe that the government's silence on the appeal may be due to the Sudanese avoiding a clash with Parliament at the present time.
The appeal was expected when Finance Minister Taif Sami threatened, shortly after the parliament passed the budget last month, that she would appeal if the budget was approved and included a change in the paragraphs included by the government.
After that, Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani announced last month that the amended items in the budget would be reviewed.
He considered passing the budget at the time as a political gain for some of the parties to the coordination framework, which added in the last moments before the vote proposals that complicated the relationship with Kurdistan.
Ihsan al-Shammari, head of the Center for Political Thinking, says, "Part of the parties to the coordination framework support measures to cut spending, and they may be in agreement with al-Sudani's appeals."
Al-Shammari talks here about Ammar al-Hakim (leader of wisdom) and Haider al-Abadi (leader of victory).
In his recent Eid sermon, al-Hakim criticized the government's employment policy and the increase in financial burdens, considering it a "financial time bomb," as he described it.
On the other hand, Al-Shammari believes in his interview with (Al-Mada) that "there are other wings in the Shiite coalition that may be angered by the government's challenge to the budget because it considered the recent amendments to the draft law as evidence of its strength and control over the decision."
Yesterday, Representative Youssef Al-Kalabi, a member of the Finance Committee team that put the amendments to the budget, said that he would defend before the Federal Court against the government's appeal.
And he added in a tweet on Twitter: "I saw the government's appeal list... We will defend the articles related to the Martyrs' Institution and the powers of the provinces...".
The proposals of the members of the committee, consisting of 5 main personalities associated with the Shiite alliance and the crowd, had blown up a previous agreement between Baghdad and Erbil regarding the financial situation of the region.
Al-Sudani's silence at the time suggested that he might be dissatisfied with what happened, while leaks indicated that the coordination framework had removed the prime minister from the budget file.
Ihsan Al-Shammari, a researcher in political affairs, believes that "Al-Sudani always wants to show himself independent from the leadership of the framework, and the appeals against the budget may be a message to the Iraqis that he is not subject to anyone."
However, Al-Shammari goes back to saying: "Despite that, there is no confirmation of the independence of Al-Sudani, just as the leaders of the Shiite coalition adhere in their speeches to the fact that the government is the framework government."
In any case, Al-Shammari does not see that the challenge to the budget will cause a crisis within the "framework", which may eventually understand the government's financial crisis due to the volume of spending.
It was expected that Al-Sudani would challenge the articles that shook the relationship with Kurdistan, says Kamal Cougar, a member of the Finance Committee.
And he added in an interview with (Al-Mada): “I was expecting Articles 13 and 14 to be challenged, but perhaps the Prime Minister fears the Shiite street, or the amendments to the budget may be in agreement with the coordination framework or commensurate with the orientations of the Sudanese.”
The list of appeals published on a number of news websites included 12 appeals, including Articles 2, 16, 20, 28, 57, 62, 63, 65, 70, 71, 72, and 75.
And Cougar confirms that “the appeals are major and very important, and most of them are valid, and without these appeals, the budget will cost additional burdens.”
Regarding the most prominent amendments, a member of the Finance Committee explains: “There is an appeal against appointments and contracts, which will stop about 300,000 jobs.”
This was represented in the appeal of Articles 62, 36, and 65, which make an exception for Parliament (150 jobs), the Federal Court, and the Judicial Council from the Budget Law by preventing appointments.
Likewise, Article 75, which relates to the contracts of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the rest of the ministries after the date of October 2, 2019.
Cougar said, "The government's appeal will stop the expansion of the deficit, which was expanded by the Finance Committee's proposals, without changing the numbers."