Friday PM Iraq Economic News Highlights 7-22-22

Iraq Imports Gasoline From China At A Rate Of 33 Thousand Metric Tons Within A Month

Shafaq News/ Chinese customs data showed on Thursday that Iraq imported 33,000 metric tons of gasoline from China during the month of June.

The administration said in its schedule, seen by Shafak News Agency, that "Iraq imported quantities of gasoline during the month of June 2022, amounting to 33,000 metric tons, equivalent to 37.653 million liters, to become the fifth largest importer of gasoline from China during June."

She added that "China exported 36,000 tons of gasoline to Iraq in December 2021, to stop exports in January, February, and March, before returning again in April for Iraq to import 35,000 tons, and then stopped in May to return to Iraq." import in June.

She pointed out that "China's total exports of gasoline to the world's countries decreased by 41.6% on an annual basis to only 5.59 million metric tons during the first half of the current year 2022."

China exports gasoline mainly to Singapore, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Bangladesh.   LINK

Including Iraq.. 6 Countries Supply The European Union With One Million Barrels Of Oil Per Day

Shafaq News/ The S&P Global Commodities at Sea platform confirmed that 6 countries supply the European Union with one million barrels of crude oil per day in compensation for Russian crude.

The platform said that despite the decline in EU imports of Russian crude by more than 1 million barrels per day compared to pre-war levels, Russia remains the largest exporter of crude shipped from the trading bloc with more than 1.8 million barrels per day of flows to the European Union in early this July.

The data also indicated that the United States, Norway, Egypt, Iraq, Brazil and Angola have become major alternative crude suppliers to the European Union, collectively supplying an additional 1 million barrels of crude oil since last February.

It indicated that although the EU embargo excludes Russian crude exports through the Druzhba pipeline to central Europe, the EU was importing about 2.3 million barrels per day of Russian crude and 1.2 million barrels per day of its oil products before the war.  LINK

The New Generation: Parliament Cannot Start Budget Procedures

Political | 12:34 - 07/22/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News, Head of the New Generation Parliamentary Bloc, Sarwa Abdel Wahed, confirmed today, Friday, that Parliament cannot begin budget procedures, while revealing the reasons.

Abdel Wahed told the official news agency, Mawazine News, that "the opposition has an active role in the parliament, and we look forward to having serious monitoring by it before going to form a government."

She added, "Some forces, including the New Generation and the Emtada movement, announced their position by forming an opposition in Parliament."

She explained that "Parliament cannot start budget procedures during the current year, as the current government is a caretaker government," noting that "forming the government will take time."

She pointed out that "the House of Representatives deals with the government according to the constitution, and the current government cannot, according to the decision of the Federal Court, send any draft law."

The committee ruled out that “the House of Representatives goes to read the budget, unless a new government is formed or the Federal Court allows an emergency order, or the current government submits an appeal or a petition to the Federal Court to obtain an exception to submit laws.”

https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=200087

An “Abnormal” Rise In Real Estate Prices In Iraq And The Housing Crisis Is Worsening

Baghdad / Obelisk: Real estate in Iraq has become the most expensive in the countries of the region, in exchange for the worsening housing crisis and the large spread of slums and abuses on state property.

Al-Monitor stated in a report that the lack of affordable housing is one of Iraq's most complex crises.

He added that this coincides with the country's suffering from a severe shortage and deficit in housing units, estimated at 3.5 million housing units, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Construction, Housing, Municipalities and Public Works.

He pointed out that multiple factors included an increase in the population, migration from the countryside to the city, the lack of financial and natural resources, crises and battles that lasted for more than four decades.

The report talked about the impact of the consequences of the terrorist organization's invasion of large areas of the country and the destruction of homes, infrastructure and public facilities.

He stressed that all these factors contributed to the aggravation of the housing crisis and increased the proportion of homeless and slums in cities and their suburbs.

And the capital, Baghdad, includes the largest number of slums, about 1,000 slums, followed by Basra, with about 700 slums.

He added that the estimates of the United Nations Population Settlements Program showed that Iraq's cities house nearly 70% of the country's population and that the population is increasing rapidly.

The current Iraqi government is trying to find solutions to the crisis by launching several housing projects. https://almasalah.com/archives/5265

Baghdad Trade: $20 Billion, The Volume Of Exchange With Turkey

Economic  Last Update 07/22/2022 | 7:40 PM  Information/Baghdad... Today, Friday, the Baghdad Chamber of Commerce called for a boycott of Turkish goods, following the brutal attack that killed 9 and wounded 23 in the city of Zakho in Dohuk governorate, stressing that the volume of exchange amounts to 20 billion dollars and the boycott is a necessity.

The head of the Baghdad Chamber of Commerce, Firas Al-Hamdani, said in a statement, "The chamber calls on the Iraqi private sector to stop working with all Turkish companies as a result of the blatant attack that affected citizens in Dohuk Governorate."

He added, "The Chamber also calls on all merchants under the umbrella of the Chamber's General Authority to boycott Turkish goods to deliver a strongly worded message to the Turkish government, which has strategic relations with some of its companies."

He pointed out that "the volume of trade exchange with Turkey annually amounts to $20 billion, and the boycott will harm the Turkish economy and sends a strong message that Iraq has the capabilities and capabilities to boycott these products in response to the ongoing violations with Turkey."

The Baghdad Chamber of Commerce called on the head of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce to issue directives to all chambers of commerce in all governorates to boycott trade exchange with Turkey. https://almaalomah.me/2022/07/22/609908/

Guterres Signs A Memorandum On The Supply Of Agricultural Products From Russia

Economic  Last Update 07/22/2022 | 6:31 PM  Information / Baghdad.  The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres signed a memorandum on the supply of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets.

Guterres signs a memorandum on the supply of agricultural products from RussiaShoigo: inspection of ships of Ukrainian agricultural products at the entry and exit from the Black Sea.

The ministry said in its statement: "Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, where Antonio Guterres signed a memorandum of cooperation between Russia and the United Nations on facilitating the supply of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets." https://almaalomah.me/2022/07/22/609891/

Wasit Announces The Commencement Of The Project To Establish An Iron And Steel Plant

Economic  Last Update 07/22/2022 | 5:44 PM  Information / Baghdad.  Wasit Governorate announced today, Friday, the commencement of the project to establish an iron and steel plant.

In a statement received by Al-Maalouma Agency, the governorate said, "The local government in Wasit has started the procedures for establishing an iron and steel factory in Wasit."

Speaking about its details, she added, "The type of project is an investment (private sector), and its location is near the Jassan district, and the cost of the project exceeds $50 million, while the production capacity is (230) thousand tons annually."

And she added, "The objectives of the project include filling the governorate's need for rebar, and providing more than 120,000 job opportunities for the governorate's residents." Ended/25

https://almaalomah.me/2022/07/22/609889/

After Allocating A Budget For The Development Of Poor Areas In Iraq... Will The Conditions Of The Poor Improve?

The amounts allocated for the first phase of the project are about $300 million, which is a loan from the World Bank for a period of 5 years

Iraq witnessed a rise in poverty rates for security, economic, political and social reasons (Al-Jazeera)

Taha Al Ani  7/21/2022   The Iraqi Ministry of Planning revealed the implementation of a development project with the support of the Social Fund for Development, with the aim of providing basic services to residents of poor areas throughout the country, with the support of community mobilization teams in each governorate.

The ministry indicated that it has started work on 60 projects that covered 3 governorates so far, in a first stage, and the services are represented in the implementation of projects for water, electricity, schools, roads, and others.

After allocating a budget for the development of poor areas in Iraq... Will the conditions of the po 8-1Al-Hindawi stressed that the project targets areas where poverty rates are higher than others (Al-Jazeera)

Community Crowd

Regarding the nature of the community mobilization tasks, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Planning, Abdul-Zahra Al-Hindawi, explains that it is a community team that was formed from the cadres of the Ministry of Planning in the governorates, with one of its members being one of the people of the area covered by the development project. The community mobilization holds extensive meetings with the people of the villages and takes Their opinions, then the process of discussing and selecting projects according to the votes of the people of the same region.

Al-Hindawi points out that the aim of this idea is to educate and sensitize those regions to the mechanisms that can be adopted in the selection of projects, and to alert them to the vital importance of these projects, so the project is chosen according to the priority of the needs of each region.

After allocating a budget for the development of poor areas in Iraq... Will the conditions of the po 3-28Community mobilization in the governorates follows up on development projects for poor areas (Iraqi Ministry of Planning)

He expresses his belief that this mechanism encourages people to genuinely participate and maintain and perpetuate these projects; Because they are mainly the ones who choose it and participate in the implementation process as labor. The first phase, which launched 60 projects, provided more than a thousand job opportunities for the people of those villages, and there was great joy among the people of those disadvantaged areas.

The community mobilization in the first phase of the project was chosen on 29 villages in 3 governorates (Al-Muthanna, Salah al-Din and Dohuk), and it included building schools and health centers, laying electricity lines, water networks, and paving roads, according to Al-Hendawi.

He confirms that this project will witness a significant expansion in the coming years, and this expansion will reflect positively on the poor Iraqi regions in general.

After allocating a budget for the development of poor areas in Iraq... Will the conditions of the po 9-8Abdul Halim: Addressing unemployment and poverty requires rehabilitating Iraqi youth in terms of training and providing them with skills (Al-Jazeera)

Tackling Poverty

For his part, the financial and economic expert, Dr. Safwan Qusai Abdel Halim, points out that the poverty rate is an interaction in the Iraqi environment as a result of external causes related to the Ukrainian-Russian war, changing world prices and global inflation.

Abdel Halim adds - to Al Jazeera Net - that there are internal reasons that exacerbated the problem of poverty, including the depreciation of the Iraqi dinar, and the accumulation of economic policy failures in previous years, because they focused on consumer spending away from investment spending.

The economic expert stresses that addressing unemployment and poverty requires rehabilitating Iraqi youth in terms of training and providing them with skills, so that they can work in an environment of international competition.

He expresses his belief that tracking the movement of internal and external funds will contribute to recovering part of the funds that the corrupt were able to acquire in previous years, and this is done in cooperation with international auditing companies, so that new revenues from these funds may be available, which, in addition to the rise in oil prices, may contribute to moving the investment file. .

Abdul Halim shows that Iraq has untapped energies in all sectors, so activating this window will contribute to increasing Iraq's ability to diversify the economy, employ the unemployed, and move towards a sustainable economy that is not limited to oil only.

After allocating a budget for the development of poor areas in Iraq... Will the conditions of the po 10-7Al-Taie doubts that this project will achieve good results, especially since Iraq is in the last ranks in the level of transparency (Al-Jazeera)

The Necessity Of Transparency

In turn, activist Wael Al-Taie doubts that this project will achieve results of the required level, especially that Iraq is in the last ranks in the level of transparency, as the large number of corruption in the state has led to a decline in the level of services.

Al-Taie explains to Al-Jazeera Net that the construction of schools is one of the most important reasons for the success of this project, because it will be based on employing manpower, as well as employing graduates, and working to eradicate illiteracy. With regard to the water and electricity file, this issue pertains to the state's policy and its dealings.

After allocating a budget for the development of poor areas in Iraq... Will the conditions of the po 1-28The Iraqi Ministry of Planning revealed the implementation of a development project with the aim of providing basic services to residents of poor areas (Al-Jazeera)

The activist points out that the Iraqi citizen has witnessed many successive governments after 2003, but so far he has not found a government that meets his most basic requirements, and therefore he no longer trusts any initiative, and if there is something new, the government must start with it and end with good and ambitious results for the citizen. It is the only way that can restore citizen confidence in government projects.

Al-Tai warns all the authorities responsible for this project against wasting its money, stressing the need for real and intense efforts from the government on the ground to implement this initiative in all transparency, so that the citizen perceives the existence of real change for the better.   LINK