More “Iraq News” Posted by Clare at KTFA 1-27-2025
KTFA:
Clare: Iraq boosts financial stability with huge dollar and gold reserves in US, Europe
1/27/2025
A country that has huge reserves of hard currency is considered an economically stable country that can intervene at any time to address imbalances in the balance of payments structure. It also provides an important element in establishing the country's creditworthiness, enhances the country's credit rating in international transactions, and provides cover for its local currency.
The country that has reserves takes into account their diversification (securities, deposits, gold and bonds...) in addition to geographical distribution to reduce exposure to risks and provide returns that ensure the sustainability of these reserves.
Diversified financial assets
In this regard, the Prime Minister's Advisor, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, explained to Shafak News Agency, "Countries seek to diversify their reserves to include different currencies and various financial assets to achieve greater stability, and the US dollar is the main reserve in the reserves of these countries, because it is the most accepted and used global currency in international transactions and the most flexible."
He added, "Most countries prefer to hold assets that provide them with a fixed and stable income, such as US or European treasury bonds that can generate annual interest, while gold does not generate fixed returns like government bonds."
Saleh pointed out that "it is difficult to deal with gold in times of crisis, as it is difficult to convert gold into liquidity quickly compared to other financial assets such as foreign currencies and bonds."
The foreign exchange reserve is the country's reserve of foreign currencies, and is called the foreign exchange reserve. The purpose of the reserve is to protect itself and maneuver with it in times of economic recession or war.
The Central Bank of Iraq announced in 2024 that Iraq has a foreign currency reserve exceeding $100 billion.
Bond investment
For his part, the economic expert and professor of economics at the University of Iraq, Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani, stated that “the existing reserves of hard currencies are the reserves of countries, not governments,” indicating that “Iraq possesses a group of them amounting to approximately 106 billion dollars, of which 16 billion dollars is the value of gold in these reserves, and the rest is foreign currencies.”
Al-Mashhadani explained, during his talk to the agency, that "gold as a reserve cannot be invested except by buying and selling. Iraq sells when the price of gold rises and buys when the price falls, and thus achieves profits in this field," adding, "Its storage in international banks is subject to fees."
He pointed out that "the currency reserve is divided into more than one section, some of which are invested in US Treasury bonds in the range of 31 to 34 billion dollars, and the rest are used for debts," noting that "Iraq does not have sovereign funds like Saudi Arabia and others for surplus currencies, which are invested in various fields."
Iraq has 152.6 tons of gold reserves, which makes it 29th in the world out of 100 countries listed in the reserves table, and third in the Arab world after Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.
Foreign investment
In contrast, the financial expert and former general manager of the Central Bank, Mahmoud Dagher, pointed out that “Iraq has more than 100 billion dollars distributed among the world’s banks and central banks, especially the US Federal Reserve, the European Bank, the Bank of England in Britain, the Basel Bank in Switzerland, the Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.”
Dagher told Shafaq News Agency, "These reserves contain foreign currencies, bonds, and gold, and are managed by the Central Bank and achieve good financial returns. This is what is called foreign investment."
Coin cover
In addition, Jamal Kojer, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, told the agency, "Iraq's large reserves of hard currency, including gold, provide cover for the local currency and give it stability."
Koger added, "Many bet on the fall and demise of the currency, and therefore these reserves make the central bank intervene in the event of any imbalance facing financial policy."
Variable reserves
But the economic expert, Hilal Al-Taan, saw that “all countries of the world boast about the amount of hard currency they have as a reserve, and this currency consists of the currencies of countries such as the dollar, the euro, and the franc, as well as gold.”
Al-Taan concluded, during his interview with Shafaq News Agency, that "Iraq is among the countries that were able, after 2003, to increase their currency balance to more than 110 billion dollars, and also to increase their gold balance to more than 150 tons."
He concluded his speech by saying, "These reserves are constantly changing in terms of the returns that Iraq obtains, through investing these currencies as interest in banks and as bonds." LINK
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Clare: CMC and U.S. Chamber of Commerce discuss supporting the Iraqi private sector in the United States
1/27/2025 Baghdad
The Commission of Media and Communications CMC and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce discussed on Monday the support of the Iraqi private sector and its presence in the United States, stressing the importance of strengthening the presence of American technology major companies in Iraq.
CMC stated in a statement obtained by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "the Chairman of CMC, Ali Al-Moayyad, received at the Commission's headquarters in Baghdad, the Chairman of the US-Iraqi Business Council and Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce, Steve Lotus."
CMC added that "during the meeting, they reviewed the major transformations taking place in Iraq, including the urban revolution and the noticeable developments in infrastructure, as well as the Iraqi media experience, which is a model to be followed in the region, and the great achievements witnessed by the media sector after 2003, including the remarkable expansion in the number of media institutions."
CMC added that "the meeting discussed the importance of the communications and technology sector in supporting the Iraqi economy, as it represents the second source of state resources after the oil sector," pointing out that "during the meeting, the significant growth in the authority's resources, which tripled during the last two years, was addressed."
CMC pointed to "emphasizing the importance of strengthening the presence of American technology major companies in Iraq, as this represents an added value to the national economy, the transfer of modern technologies and the development of technological infrastructure," noting that "the meeting also discussed the necessary facilities to support Iraqi private sector investments and strengthen its presence in the United States, ensuring a high level of economic and technological cooperation between the two countries."
CMC pointed out that "the meeting also reviewed opportunities for cooperation with American companies to develop the digital economy in Iraq, strengthen technological infrastructure, in addition to providing support in developing regulations and legislation that serve the private sector, and the fields of digitization and communications that are witnessing rapid developments." LINK
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Clare: Al-Sudani sponsors a memorandum of understanding between the Iraqi Securities and the Abu Dhabi Market
1/27/2025
On Monday, the Prime Minister of the Federal Council, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, sponsored the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between the Iraqi Securities Commission and the Abu Dhabi Securities Market.
His media office said in a statement received by Shafak News Agency that Al-Sudani received today the CEO of the Abu Dhabi Securities Market, Abdullah Salem Al-Nuaimi, and discussed ways of joint cooperation in the field of exchanging expertise and developing mechanisms for expanding the activities of the private sector to achieve economic growth.
The statement added that Al-Sudani sponsored the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Abu Dhabi Securities Market, where Faisal Wissam Al-Haimus, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, signed on the Iraqi side, and Abdullah Al-Naimi signed on the Emirati side.
The MoU includes axes of cooperation in several areas, the most important of which are enhancing and developing the monitoring of daily trading in the market, and brokerage firms, cooperation in the field of dual listing conditions and mechanisms, and in developing and using technological applications and applications and mechanisms for subscriptions and initial listings, as well as in the field of cases of suspending trading on shares and timings for re-trading, and the requirements for licensing REIT funds.
The memorandum also included the exchange of expertise in the field of training, especially the activities of supervision and information technology, trading and clearing, digital transformation and financial analysis, depositing, managing funds and portfolios and supervising them, cooperation in the field of Islamic bonds and sukuk, depositing, settlement and independent financial services, and the requirements and mechanism for opening accounts for foreign investors from outside the country.
In light of the memorandum, Emirati investments will be encouraged in establishing Iraqi companies with Emirati-Iraqi capital, and their trading in both markets will be explored, according to the statement. LINK
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Clare: Baghdad and Erbil agreed.. Parliamentary consensus to pass the budget law amendment soon
1/27/2025 Baghdad
Today, Monday (January 27, 2025), the representative of the Al-Fatah Alliance, Mukhtar Al-Moussawi, confirmed that there is a parliamentary consensus to pass the amendment to the budget law during the upcoming legislative sessions.
Al-Moussawi told Baghdad Today that "there is a parliamentary agreement to pass the budget law during the upcoming sessions," noting that "there are political agreements as well as an agreement between Baghdad and Erbil on this amendment, and that the parliamentary finance committee's Meetings are continuing to agree on the final amendment formula.”
He explained that "the House of Representatives supports any agreement between Baghdad and Erbil, and we do not want the House to be a reason for obstructing negotiations and solutions."
On Thursday, January 23, 2025, the federal government denied what the Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman announced regarding submitting a proposal that differs from the Council of Ministers' amendment to the financial budget law to the House of Representatives.
Government spokesman Bassem Al-Awadi said in a statement received by Baghdad Today: “Based on the government's keenness on transparency and disclosure to citizens of the progress of its executive work, especially with regard to the budget issue, which is a fundamental pillar for implementation the obligations contained in the government program, we affirm the government's commitment to the amendments sent to the House of Representatives regarding the budget law, which takes into account the supreme national interest, and we stress that the government's representative in the House of Representatives “He stressed the necessity of not making any other amendments to the budget law that contradict the texts submitted by the Council of Ministers.”
He added, "At the same time, we deny what was stated in the statement of the spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, and we are surprised by what was stated in it regarding the claim that the representative of the federal government in the House of Representatives obstructed the amendment of the article related to the procedures for resuming oil exports from the region.”
Al-Awadi stressed "the importance of the Kurdistan Regional Government's commitment to the provisions of the Federal General Budget Law, including the delivery of financial revenues, whether oil or non-oil, to the federal government, in accordance with what is stipulated in the law and the decision of the Federal Court.”
He explained that "adherence to these procedures is a necessary step to resolve the problems related to this file and enhance cooperation between the two sides, and the federal government hopes that the House of Representatives will expedite the approval of the amendment in accordance with the text Approved by the Council of Ministers, for the benefit of Iraq, all of Iraq.”
The spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government said in a statement earlier today that “after a series of meetings and persistent efforts aimed at amending the federal general budget law by the Council of Representatives with the aim of resuming the export of the region’s oil, and after Completing the first and second readings, unfortunately, the draft law was not approved in the agreed-upon form at the last minute.”
He pointed out that, “What increased our surprise was that the representative of the federal government in the House of Representatives submitted a different proposal to the Council unilaterally, without prior consultation with the Kurdistan Regional Government, and without submitting it to the Federal Council of Ministers for a vote, which contradicts the previous decision of the Council of Ministers regarding the approval of the draft law amendment for the purpose of resuming the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region.”
The Kurdistan Regional Government spokesman stressed that "such attempts only serve to harm Iraq, and contribute to deepening crises instead of finding effective solutions to them. Accordingly, we declare our complete rejection of these measures and proposals, and we emphasize the necessity of presenting the agreed-upon draft law and its approval by the Federal Council of Ministers and voting on it.”LINK
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Clare: Coming from Erbil... A convoy of American military vehicles arrives at Ain al-Assad base in Anbar
1/26/2025
Information/Anbar...
A security source in Anbar province reported on Sunday that a convoy carrying American vehicles and equipment arrived at Ain al-Assad base, coming from Erbil province.
The source told Al-Maalouma that "a large American convoy carrying American military equipment and vehicles arrived at the Ain al-Assad air base in the Al-Baghdadi area in the Hit district, west of Anbar, coming from Erbil Governorate without knowing the real Reasons behind the arrival of military reinforcements to the base building."
He added, "The convoy's movement from Erbil Governorate to Ain al-Assad base was accompanied by American aircraft flying over the areas where the convoy was located to protect it until it reached its settlement."
He explained that "American security companies are carrying out the task of delivering this equipment, while the soldiers are transported by warplanes to the Ain al-Assad air base and from there to the areas where American forces are present," stressing that "the movements of American forces' convoys have decreased significantly during the past period." LINK