Friday Afternoon Iraqi Economic News Highlights 9-9-22

The New York Times: Iraq's oil wealth is breathing its last after corruption spreads in all ministries[

Baghdad / Obelisk: According to a report by the American newspaper New York Times, Thursday 08/09/2022, the state in Iraq cannot provide the simplest basic services to its citizens due to the catastrophic scale of corruption rampant in all the joints of the ministries.

In its report, the newspaper quoted the Iraqi historian Saad Iskandar as saying: Internally and externally, at the political and security levels, the governments are failing and have not been able to extend their authority over their lands or their people.

The report added that the credit for not collapsing Iraq is largely due to the enormous oil wealth of the country. But most citizens never see the benefit of this wealth, suffering from daily power cuts, dilapidated schools, and a lack of health care and even clean water.

He added that the Iraqi Ministry of Health, which is usually run by officials from one of the major political blocs, is considered one of the most corrupt ministries.

With oil prices soaring due to the war in Ukraine, state revenue has recently risen from oil exports but there are no real efforts to improve public services or life for a quarter of the population the government estimates live in poverty.

The report indicated that the education sector suffers from a flagrant dysfunction. For nearly seven years, thousands of temporary teachers have worked without pay, waiting for an opportunity to be appointed by the Ministry of Education without result.

He added that more than half of Iraqi students drop out before high school in Baghdad and other cities. Children who have left school push wooden carts in outdoor markets or sell water bottles to drivers in traffic. Translation by Sajjad Al-Khafaji  Source (https://tinyurl.com/486rbkv6)

https://almasalah.com/archives/16695

The House Of Representatives Denies Spending Billions Of Dinars To Maintain Its Building

Political | 02:12 - 09/09/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News, today, Friday, the House of Representatives denied the news that billions of dinars were spent for the maintenance of its building.

The parliament's media department said in a statement, "Some social media pages circulated news about the parliament spending billions on the parliament building."

The statement added, "In this regard, the media department in the House of Representatives would like to show that all that was circulated in this regard is baseless and baseless news, and that most of what was done was to re-clean and periodic maintenance of the parliament building did not cost anything and from the regular budget of the Council and not Special financial allocations for this purpose, as the cadres of the General Secretariat of the Council were relied upon.

The statement called on the media to "be careful in reporting news and to rely on official sources." Ended 29/N33    https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=204948

Sumo: We Are Receiving Requests To Increase The Quantities Of Iraqi Oil Exported To Asia

The Iraqi Oil Marketing Company "SOMO" confirmed today, Friday, that it had received requests to increase the quantities of Iraqi oil exported to Asia, while noting that the OPEC agreement affected the increase in revenues entering the country.

The company's general manager, Alaa Al-Yasiri, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "Russia is currently actually present in Asia as a competitor, but it will not affect the presence of Iraq, as the Oil Marketing Company has contracted with major government companies in major crude oil consuming countries."

Al-Yasiri added, "Iraq is in contract with almost all government refineries in China, as well as with government refineries in India, and these countries are not willing to risk abandoning Iraqi crude oil because they are sure that Russian crude from an economic point of view is better for it to go to Europe because the distance The pipeline network and the cost of transportation all have effects. In the event that the problem between Russia and Ukraine ends, the Russian exporter does not prefer sending crude to Asia and will send it to Europe.

As for Iraq, it prefers to send its crude oil to Asia because they see that the future is with Iraqi crude and they will not give it up at a time when they are buying Quantities of markets in order to raise their stocks, but so far none of our customers has requested canceling the contract, on the contrary, there is a request to increase quantities in Asia.”

And he continued, "Iraq has not had a reduction for a while, and now it exports all the quantities available for export and there is no problem, and all the quantities produced in excess of the domestic need available for export are completely exported," noting that "the OPEC agreement affected raising the revenues that enter Iraq." .

He continued: "In previous periods, the revenue from exports to the Ministry of Finance ranged between one and a half billion and two billion before the agreement, but after it, prices began to recover and reached $60 and $70, and during the Ukrainian crisis the price reached $100, so the revenue thus exceeded 11 billion." dollars a month, and now we've made $82 billion."

He pointed out that "the Oil Marketing Company targets all refineries in all countries of the world and all markets, and it contacts all the companies that own the refineries and offers them Iraq's oil, and in the absence of contracts, they are met through seminars that the company conducts once or twice during the year."

And he stated, "The seminars are large, and the company invites all international companies to attend them." Next year, there will be an increase in quantities and a change in the type of crude oil purchased.”

He pointed out that "some companies may want to change heavy oil to medium and vice versa, and some companies have objections that must be taken into account with regard to fines, logistics and docks, and most important of all are the specifications of the crude sold," adding: "We have committees that form For the purpose of determining quantities and buyers for the coming year.

He noted that "Iraq for three years is the first supplier of crude in India, as it imports from many countries as one of the large countries, as well as China, but now it is said that this year will be the competitor to Iraq, Russia in this market, but Iraq is still the largest supplier to the market." ".

He continued: "Saudi Arabia is a major exporter and producer of crude oil and a very important competitor, and it has a presence in all markets through large investments, not only through the commercial relationship in buying and selling, but they have investments in various refineries in the world. Among their conditions in these investments is that the oil that is used in This refinery must be in a certain proportion purely Saudi, as it is a competing country, but the market needs Saudi and Iraqi oil.”

He stressed, "The relationship of Iraq and Saudi Arabia is very good in terms of oil, and also the relationship in OPEC is good, and all decisions taken have coordination, and Iraq is usually supported in the issues in which an agreement occurs."

He concluded by saying: "As for the ministerial meetings, the Saudi prince, the minister, and the one before him always communicate, considering that the Iraqi oil minister is very important and influential in making decisions, so most decisions are discussed with the ministers for the benefit of the two countries because the benefit is mutual."   https://www.ina.iq/165133--.html

The Minister Of Transport Discusses With The French Ambassador The Realization Of The "Iraqi Dream"

Reconstruction and building

Economy News – Baghdad   The Minister of Transport, Nasser Al-Shibli, said, on Thursday, that the suspended train project, which he described as "the dream of the Iraqis", will extricate the capital, Baghdad, from the "bitter reality" it suffers from.

The Ministry of Transport said in a statement, "The Minister of Transport, Captain Nasser Hussein Bandar Al-Shibli, received today, Thursday, the French ambassador to Iraq, Eric Chevalier, to discuss the implementation of the suspended train project."

The statement quoted Al-Shibli as saying that "this project is one of the important projects in the capital, Baghdad, as it will remove the bitter reality that the capital Baghdad suffers from, which is the traffic jams and the large number of cars and their importation. ".

The meeting also touched on "many important aspects that focused on joint cooperation in several areas related to transport and contributing to facilitating the preparation of projects and proposals that serve the two countries."

The Minister of Transport stressed that "the ministry is continuing to study the mechanism for implementing the project to reach tangible results that will realize the dream of the Iraqis."

Views 116   Added 09/08/2022 - 4:27 PM   Update 09/09/2022 - 2:19 PM  

https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=29617

Iraq Market: More Than 3 Billion Shares Traded In A Week

Money and business   Economy News – Baghdad [size=21]The Iraqi Stock Exchange organized during the first week of September 2022 five trading sessions from Sunday 04/09/2022 to Thursday 08/09/2022.   According to a statement to the market, the following indicators were achieved during this week:

1. The number of shares traded during this week reached more than (3) billion shares.

2. The value of traded shares this week amounted to more than (5) billion dinars.

3. The trading index closed in the market for the first session of the week at (592.35) points, while the index closed at the end of the week at (592.10) points, achieving a decrease of (0.04%) from its closing in the first session.

4. During the week, more than (2600) buying and selling contracts were executed on the shares of companies listed in the market.   69 . views   Added 09/08/2022 - 4:42 PM   Update 09/09/2022 - 2:32 PM

https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=29618

Saleh: The Idea Of ​​Converting 4 Ministries To A Self-Financing System Needs Legal Amendment

Money and business   Economy News _ Baghdad   The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed today, Tuesday, that the idea of ​​converting 4 ministries to the self-financing system needs a legal amendment.

Saleh said in an interview with "Al-Sabah" newspaper, which was seen by "Economy News", that "the idea of​​converting 4 ministries into a context that is somewhat similar to self-financing, needs a major legal amendment, because the budget and exchange units are completely central."

And he indicated that "the idea put forward by Counselor Haitham al-Jubouri is to convert some ministries into revenue, and these revenues cover current operational expenses, as the operational aspect includes current expenses that include employment and salaries."

He explained that "the current budget has two parts: the first is to operate the administration of the public office and its costs, and the other part is salaries and wages, and the latter is paid into the federal general budget through the operating budget that pays salaries, wages and the cost of operating the budget, which is called, according to the financial literature, the current budget."

Saleh reiterated that “the proposed idea needs a legal amendment to transform these ministries into revenue ministries, meaning that their services are paid for as if they are a private sector, and this collection pays as salaries to its employees and covers its expenses instead of taking fees and taxes that go as central revenues, and therefore it will be a decentralized revenue, and this ( A hybrid context) because we have self-financing units that are subject to quasi-market rules governed by the provisions of the Public Companies Law No. 21 of 1997 and that these companies make profits that are costs and revenue and work on a revenue-equivalent point that covers the costs with everything in it, so this pattern is called (hybrid public finance) You need to amend a law that entails rights and duties related to retirement and others that reduce public revenues as a cost.

https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=28948

Its Godfather Is A Minister And A Deputy..A Deal To Seize Maintenance Contracts For Iraqi Airways

Posted On2022-09-08 By Sotaliraq   On Wednesday, Representative Alia Nassif denounced that a member of the House of Representatives took advantage of his position in the parliament by deluding the Minister of Transport that he was able to silence the voices that revealed corruption files in the Ministry of Transport during his tenure of the ministry.

Nassif said in a statement that she received "The Information", a copy of it, that "this deputy claimed that he had a relationship with one of the heads of the parliamentary blocs and one of the representatives who revealed major corruption files related to the work of the ministry despite the pressures put on him to close it,

and (the corrupt representative) And in cooperation with the Minister of Transport in the caretaker government, to seize the maintenance contract for Maintenance Center No. (1) belonging to the General Company for Iraqi Airways through one of the companies and without right in order to benefit from it at the expense of public money, according to what is published on the Iraqi Airways website The official website was posted on Facebook on 9/5/2022, in exchange for closing the corruption files belonging to the minister, according to this deputy’s claim.

She added, "Such behaviors and actions have nothing to do with the parliamentary work and are considered perjury of the oath that the representative swore before everyone in preserving the rights of the people and preserving public money from waste."   LINK