Vietnam and Iraq Economic News from KTFA 5-9-2025
KTFA:
Henig: KRX system officially goes live
May 05, 2025 - 16:04
The system, developed with technology support from the Korea Exchange (KRX), is expected to bring significant changes to trading practices and boost market transparency and efficiency.
HÀ NỘI — After more than a decade in preparation, the Hồ Chí Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) officially launched the long-anticipated KRX trading system on Monday morning. The system, developed with technological support from the Korea Exchange (KRX), is expected to bring significant changes to trading practices and boost market transparency and efficiency.
The trading session opened with some notable excitement. The VN-Index rose more than eight points shortly after the market opened after a long holiday, reflecting investor optimism. However, the session began somewhat sluggishly. According to reports from several investors, the opening auction (ATO) experienced some delays and the system was not initially smooth.
These early hiccups were resolved and trading proceeded more stably as the session progressed. The KRX system is an information technology platform designed to modernise and standardise Việt Nam’s stock market operations.
With a total investment of approximately VNĐ900 billion (US$34.7 million), the system offers numerous new features, including updates to trading orders, enhanced functionalities for retail investors and a foundation for future reforms.
Though originally scheduled for completion in 2021, the project encountered repeated delays and only recently completed extensive testing throughout 2024.
A key change brought by the KRX system is the modification to how ATO (At-the-Opening) and ATC (At-the-Closing) orders are handled. Previously, these orders were prioritised over limit orders (LO) during periodic matching phases. Under the new system, ATO and ATC orders no longer receive priority over pre-entered limit orders.
They are now displayed at a specific price level, aligning more closely with LO orders, rather than being shown as 'ATO' or 'ATC'. The system also changes the rules for modifying or canceling orders. Investors can no longer simultaneously amend both price and quantity in a single transaction. Adjusting the price or increasing the order size resets its time priority, while decreasing the volume does not. As before, order cancellations and modifications remain restricted during ATO and ATC sessions.
Another notable update is the replacement of the traditional market price order (MP) with the market-to-limit order (MTL). In cases where an MTL order is only partially matched, the unfilled portion is automatically converted to a limit order (LO) with a price adjusted by ±1 tick from the initial order - improving price control during execution. The KRX system also enhances negotiated trades and odd-lot transactions. Both the buyer and seller may now input orders directly, with the other party confirming the trade - an improvement over the previous system, where only sellers entered orders.
Once a negotiated trade is completed, it cannot be canceled or amended. Retail investors also benefit from expanded odd-lot trading capabilities. With the new system, odd-lot limit orders (LO) can be placed continuously from 9am to 2.45pm, instead of being limited to continuous matching or negotiated trade sessions as in the past.
Ahead of the launch, HoSE and its technology partners conducted a final round of testing on May 4, including system integration, market configuration checks, database validation, server and application monitoring and storage assessments.
This ensured full operational readiness among all stakeholders. Major securities firms, including SSI, ACB Securities and Bảo Việt Securities, confirmed successful system conversions and announced readiness for the first official trading session under the new platform.
SSI reported that its upgraded online trading system is now compatible with the KRX system and offers pre-market order placement from 7.30am. ACB Securities and Bảo Việt Securities also affirmed that their system transitions had been completed on schedule. Other brokerage houses, such as MB Securities, Shinhan Vietnam Securities, Việt Dragon, VCBS, BVSC and DNSE, similarly reported the completion of necessary upgrades, including data reconciliation and system connectivity. Firms across the industry have expressed confidence in the potential of the KRX platform to improve order handling, streamline retail trading and facilitate better integration of foreign investor transactions and securities under trading restrictions. The official rollout of the KRX system concludes a nearly 13-year journey of planning, investment and technical coordination.
Its implementation marks a critical milestone for Việt Nam’s capital market development, laying the groundwork for future enhancements in market infrastructure, investor experience and regulatory oversight, as well as market upgrade from frontier status to emerging market. — BIZHUB/VNS LINK
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Clare: Iraq's customs revenues reached 59 billion dinars after implementing the ASYCUDA system.
5/9/2025- Baghdad
Finance Minister Taif Sami announced on Friday a significant increase in customs revenues following the implementation of the ASYCUDA Customs Automation System, amounting to more than 59 billion dinars.
Sami said in a statement to the official agency, followed by "Al-Eqtisad News," that "customs revenues before the implementation of the ASYCUDA system amounted to 375,675,732,360 dinars, while after the implementation they rose to 435,421,672,805 dinars, an increase of 59,745,940,445 dinars."
She added, "The General Authority of Customs has begun implementing the ASYCUDA system in 15 customs centers, including: Air Cargo Customs, Dry Port, Baghdad International Airport Terminal, Grand Welcome Square Customs, Trebil, Safwan, Arar, Umm Qasr Middle, Umm Qasr South, Kirkuk Airport, Zurbatiyah, Al-Mundhiriyah, Mandali, Al-Shaib, and Al-Shalamcheh."
She explained that "the Authority has currently begun implementing the second phase of the system, which will extend over two years. This phase includes its implementation in eight remaining customs centers, in addition to linking 12 electronic applications to the system, including: land transport clearance, the value system, smart selectivity, the exemptions system, and licenses and certificates. This will enable the system to be linked with all ministries." LINK
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Clare: The dollar's exchange rate is stabilizing towards its target: adaptation or adjustment?
5/9/2025
Dr. Haitham Hamid Mutlaq Al-Mansour
It became clear in the period from last April until this May that the dollar exchange rate in Iraq began to stabilize, declining towards the (official) target level. Therefore, a question may be raised in this context: Is this stability the result of “adaptation” or “adaptation”?
To answer this question, we examine the reality of monetary policy measures that strengthened the foreign exchange signal's response to the downward trend, which can be described in the following paragraphs:
1. The Central Bank's restrictive policy of controlling dollar sales to banks through transparency measures for transfers of unclear origin aimed at combating smuggling. This increased the official supply and eased pressure on the exchange rate.
2. The effectiveness of monetary policy in financing foreign trade through highly rated correspondent banks, within the framework of the US Treasury and Federal Reserve's conditions. This is in addition to the trend toward settlement in euros, yuan, and UAE dirhams, which has facilitated remittance transactions in our trade with China, Turkey, and the UAE.
3. Added to this is the decline in demand for the dollar due to the increased level of banking compliance with international conditions on dollar transfers to prevent their smuggling to Iran, Syria, and Turkey via Iraq. As a result, suspicious transfers have decreased, and illicit demand for dollars has declined, contributing to the stability of the dollar exchange rate.
4- The effectiveness of the Central Bank’s foreign reserves management to compensate for the decline in the dollar supply in the parallel market, thus curbing the exchange rate towards the target.
5- The effectiveness of the inflation targeting policy led to a slowdown in the rise in the general price level (inflation) in Iraq, which limited the phenomenon of dollarization and raised the real value of the dinar.
6- Decline in speculation in the parallel market. Following the regulatory measures, the activity of unlicensed money changers and speculators who artificially raised prices declined.
7- The effectiveness of financing travelers in dollars through the official rate using payment cards at reduced costs and at the official exchange rate of 1320 dinars per dollar, in addition to collecting cash dollars through Iraqi airports, in the amount of 3000 dollars at the official rate for each traveler per month who carries an electronic payment card.
8- External international factors related to a general weakness in purchasing power in global markets and a decline in stocks, which caused a decline in the value of the dollar and a rise in gold, leading to a decline in demand for it globally and locally.
From the above-mentioned reasons, we find that exchange rate stability, despite its importance as a short-term objective of monetary policy, was achieved through “adjustment,” i.e., a short-term price adjustment trend resulting from short- or medium-term measures and treatments for exchange rate fluctuations. The aim was to restore temporary economic equilibrium without changing the basic structure of the economy and without deep-rooted long-term policies, which reduces the effectiveness of targeting the exchange rate at the long-term target level. Stability could have been achieved as a result of long-term structural “adjustment” by following long-term policies as follows:
1- Decrease in demand for the dollar due to the availability of agricultural or industrial GDP revenues as a substitute for imports.
2- Improvement in the balance of payments thanks to non-oil agricultural and industrial exports.
3- Structurally reforming the banking system and activating the role of monetary tools, especially the interest rate structure, in a way that restores the overall balance to its natural state without a split between what is real and what is monetary.
4. Reducing rentierism by diversifying the economy through allocating resources based on foreign trade to generate national surplus value. The result: more sustainable stability, as the economy becomes less dependent on external factors.
If the current balance remains in place, the dollar supply will still be vulnerable to depletion within a year of imports if oil exports cease due to wars and threats, for example, or if the economy is exposed to similar external shocks. Furthermore, reliance on reserve management and other stringent measures will not be sufficient to ensure long-term exchange rate stability.
In conclusion, while ensuring that the exchange rate stabilizes near its target level is a significant achievement for monetary policy, the absence of structural reforms, economic diversification, improving the business environment, combating corruption, and other factors will make any exchange rate stability vulnerable to reversal, particularly with oil price fluctuations, political crises, and external shocks. This underscores the importance of planning for long-term structural adjustment at the macroeconomic policy level. LINK