Friday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 7-21-23

Disclosure Of The Date Of The Vote On The Oil And Gas Law And The General Amnesty

Policy    07/21/2023  Number of readings: 141   Baghdad-Iraq Today:  The Parliamentary Legal Committee in the House of Representatives revealed the date for voting in Parliament on the "oil and gas" and "general amnesty" laws.

Representative Ahmed Fawaz Al-Latifi, a member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, said in press statements: “One of the most important laws that we are working on approving is the oil and gas law and the general security law that was agreed upon within the state administration coalition, and this is what is agreed upon, and I think there are touches.”

A final policy to agree on, and thus include it on the agenda and vote on it within the House of Representatives, and it was sent from the Council of Ministers as draft laws, not proposals to the House of Representatives, and therefore we wait in the House if the letter or bills reach Parliament, to be referred to the Legal Committee, and it is concerned with studying and discussing the paragraphs and rationale of this topic and thus putting it on the agenda soon for a vote on it.   LINK

Finance Confirms Its Willingness To Send The Budget To The Presidency Of The Council For A Vote

Al-Hayat News:  The Parliamentary Finance Committee announced its readiness to send the budget to the Presidency of the House of Representatives to proceed with the legislation of the law as soon as possible.

A statement by the Parliament's media department, received by Al-Hayat News, stated that the committee has been working on completing all the remaining matters of the budget items and the numbers listed in the tables. In order to make transfers between amounts on spending units, according to need and population ratio, as well as the importance of increasing financial allocations in the governorates in implementation of the government program.

Explaining that, the committee, headed by Eng. Atwan Al-Atwani and in the presence of its members, continued its meeting on Wednesday evening late at night in order to put technical notes on the federal budget law.  https://allhayat-net.translate.goog/?p=171569&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

Resources: Iraq Is On The Verge Of A Great Water Scarcity, And What Is Available In Dams Is The Least In The History Of The Ministry

Economy News – Baghdad  The Ministry of Water Resources confirmed, today, Friday, that Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’a al-Sudani directed that the water file be a priority in discussions with neighboring countries, noting that Iraq is on the verge of a “great water scarcity”, and what is present in Iraqi reservoirs and dams “is the least of what is present in it.” Ministry History.

Taha Darra, advisor to the Ministry of Water Resources, said, "There is a development in the water file with neighboring Iran, and for the first time in years, water flows into the Karun River, which resulted in a decrease in salinity levels in Basra," pointing out that "the Prime Minister is supportive of the Ministry of Water Resources, especially on level of negotiations with neighboring countries.

And he continued, "Iraq is on the verge of a great water scarcity, and what is present in the Iraqi reservoirs and their dams is the least that exists in the history of the ministry," noting that "the ministry is working to remove the excesses that cause a great waste of water by exploiting tens of acres covered with fish lakes, and evaporation is In addition, the agricultural plan must be regulated based on the existing water reserves.

Daraa added, in an interview with the official news agency, that "the ministry uses Tharthar Basin to pump water releases into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers at a rate of 80 cubic meters per second, and 100 cubic meters per second will be reached to reduce salinity and filter the two rivers."

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Resources: Water Scarcity Has Reached Unprecedented Levels In Iraq

Money  and business   Economy News _ Baghdad  Today, Friday, the Ministry of Water Resources confirmed that Al-Sudani directed that the water file be a priority in discussions with neighboring countries, while it revealed that Iraqi reservoirs are facing an unprecedented scarcity in the history of the ministry. 

The advisor of the Ministry of Water Resources, Taha Daraa, said in an interview with the official agency, followed by "Al-Iqtisad News", that "Iraq is on the verge of a great water scarcity, and what is present in Iraqi reservoirs and dams is the least that exists in the history of the ministry," noting that "the ministry is working to remove the abuses that It causes a great waste of water by exploiting tens of dunams covered with fish lakes, and the evaporation is large and unauthorized. In addition, the agricultural plan must be legalized based on the existing water storage. 

He added, "The ministry is using Tharthar Basin to pump water releases to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, up to 80 cubic meters per second, and 100 cubic meters per second will be reached to reduce salinity and filter the two rivers." 

Deraa stressed the need for "there should be a culture of water consumption at the level of the citizen, the farmer, and the institutions, because we live in water scarcity, and all official social activities are required to educate the community and make it aware of the importance of water rationalization, because it will make us overcome the crisis." 

Daraa added, "There is a development in the water file with neighboring Iran, and for the first time in years, water flows into the Karun River, which resulted in a decrease in salinity levels in Basra," pointing out that "the Prime Minister is supportive of the Ministry of Water Resources, especially at the level of discussions with neighboring countries." 

He pointed out that "there is a directive by the Prime Minister to all ministries, that the water file be a priority in any discussions that take place with neighboring countries, and this is the first time that this has occurred in the history of the presidency of the government. In addition, the Prime Minister directed the security forces to cooperate with the cadres of the Ministry of Resources to remove abuses." ". 

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In The Document.. Serious Developments In Investigating The Theft Of The Dollar And Gold Bullion At The Rafidain Bank

Time: 07/21/2023 Read: 3,406 times  {Economic: Al Furat News} An informed source revealed the latest developments of the investigation committee on the file of the dollar and gold bullion cases in the Rafidain Bank.

The source stated to {Euphrates News} agency, that: “The investigation committee discovered the theft of large sums of dollars and dinars at the dollar sale outlet of the Rafidain Bank at Baghdad International Airport by influential members of some of the employees who were withdrawn from them by the decision of the Minister of Finance and with the complicity of the previous administration of the bank.” whose hand was also withdrawn.”

He added, "There are many files that the committee conducted an investigation about, and it was found that they contained mismanagement, waste of public money, legal and administrative violations with regard to transfers, the appointment of non-professionals in responsible positions in the bank on the basis of nepotism, and the concealment of documents and information in several cases by supporters of the previous administration, including employees and a director." His office is currently in office.

The source pointed out that "there is political pressure on the investigation committee to distort and procrastinate facts, change testimonies and hide the result related to corruption cases, in order to exonerate the previous administration and return it to its position to manage the bank," according to the source.

He pointed out, "Wide praise for the Minister of Finance for taking decisive decisions against the previous administration, which caused many administrative and legal violations, and the use of the position to achieve goals and satisfy partisan parties in illegal ways, and to reveal corruption files and the failure of the bank to develop and keep it in its current position."

And the Minister of Finance, Taif Sami, decided on July 7 to withdraw the hand of the director of the Rafidain Bank and 20 department directors and employees for sixty days due to corruption in selling dollars at Baghdad International Airport.

The Ministry of Finance assigned the head of the National Retirement Authority, Maher Hussein, to run the affairs of the bank.  LINK

The First Free Trade Zone Between Iraq And Iran On The Borders Of Mehran

July 21, 2023  Baghdad / Obelisk Al-Hadath: Adviser to the President of the Republic and Secretary of the Supreme Council for Free Zones in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hojjatullah Abdul-Malik, announced the provision of the ground for the establishment of the first joint free trade zone between Iran and Iraq at a point on the other side of the Mahran border.

On the sidelines of the visit of the Iraqi Minister of Labor to the second exhibition to introduce the investment packages and export capabilities of the Iranian free and special economic zones, which is held at the permanent headquarters of international exhibitions in the city of Mashhad, northeastern Iran, Abdul-Malik said, “Recently, the Iraqi Prime Minister took into consideration a point on the other side. From the borders of Mahran in Wasit Governorate to establish a joint free zone between the two countries, as studies are being conducted in this regard at the present time,” according to (IRNA) agency.

He expressed hope that the first joint free trade area between Iran and Iraq will enter the operational phase and be established by the end of the year.

He added, Abdul Maliki, that Iraqi investors are also interested in exporting their goods to other places to meet their needs and develop their country's trade by passing through Iran and accessing the Indian Ocean and open waters through Iran's private and free economic zones.

https://almasalah.com/archives/59679

Iraq Market: Trading Of Shares Worth More Than 7 Billion Within A Week

Money  and business  Economy News – Baghdad  The Iraqi Stock Exchange announced today, Thursday, the weekly trading indicators.

  The market said in a statement that it organized “during the third week of July 2023, four trading sessions, from Sunday 07/16/2023 to Thursday 07/20/2023, as the trading session was not organized on Wednesday 07/19/2023 because it coincided with An official holiday, during this week check the indicators below:

 1. The number of shares traded during this week amounted to more than (7) billion shares.

 2. The value of shares traded this week amounted to more than (7) billion dinars.

 3. The trading index in the market closed for the first session of the week at (699.56) points, while the index closed at the end of the week at (705.71) points, achieving an increase of (0.87%) over its closing at the beginning of the session.

 4. During the week, more than (2,700) buying and selling contracts were executed on the shares of companies listed in the market.  Views 52   07/20/2023 - https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=35241

"SOMO" Discusses The Mechanism Of Exporting The Oil Produced In Kurdistan

Energy   Economy News – Baghdad   The Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) discussed with representatives from the Kurdistan region the mechanisms for discharging the crude oil produced in Kurdistan.

The company's media stated in a statement, "The Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) held a meeting that included the general manager of the company, representatives from the relevant departments in the Ministry of Oil, the General Accounting Department in the Federal Ministry of Finance, and representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Office of Financial Supervision in the Kurdistan Regional Government."

He added, that the meeting "discussed mechanisms for discharging crude oil produced in Kurdistan through the Iraqi Ministry of Oil in the federal government, in accordance with Article 12/ Second (a, b, c, d, e) of the Budget Law for the fiscal years 2023, 2024, 2025, And setting the necessary steps to implement the above paragraphs in order to achieve the public interest.

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Minister Of Communications: We Are Working To Complete The Procedures For Iraq's Accession To The Digital Cooperation Organization

Money  and business   Economy News _ Baghdad  Today, Friday, Minister of Communications Hayam Al-Yasiri confirmed work to complete the procedures for Iraq's accession to the Digital Cooperation Organization.

A statement by the Ministry of Communications, received by "Al-Iqtisad News", stated that "Al-Yasiri met, via video conference technology, the Secretary-General of the Digital Cooperation Organization, Dima Al-Yahya, and discussed with her completing the procedures related to Iraq's accession to the Digital Cooperation Organization and the services that the organization can provide to Iraq in the field of digitization."

Al-Yasiri emphasized that "Iraq seeks to be an active member in the organization, which is considered one of the specialized organizations that are concerned with advancing the reality of communications and informatics and transferring advanced experiences to the organizing countries to them, in a way that contributes to strengthening digital cooperation between these countries."

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