Iraq Economic News And Points To Ponder Monday Afternoon 5-5-25
Economist: Jordan Is The Biggest Beneficiary Of Washington's Decisions Against Iraqi Banks.
May 4, 15:08 Information/Baghdad.. Economic expert Munir al-Obaidi confirmed on Sunday that the
US decision to restrict the operations of a large number of Iraqi banks, on the pretext of dollar smuggling to China and Iran, did not achieve its objectives.
Instead, it led to counterproductive results, increasing the volume of remittances to those same countries.
Al-Obaidi said in a tweet followed by Al-Maalouma Agency,
"The US authorities had justified their decision by the fact that a
large portion of dollar sales in Iraq go to China,
which prompted them to suspend a number of Iraqi banks from foreign transactions,
while maintaining the activity of foreign banks, especially Jordanian ones." Al-Obaidi pointed out that
"official figures reveal a clear contradiction in this argument,
as the volume of imports in the first quarter of 2025 reached approximately $4 billion,
compared to $3.2 billion in the first quarter of 2023, i.e.,
before restrictions were imposed on Iraqi banks." He continued,
"What actually happened was the exclusion of Iraqi banks from external financial activity,
while the door was opened wide to foreign banks, particularly Jordanian ones,
which rushed to expand into the Iraqi market and benefit from the remittance flows." Al-Obaidi concluded by saying:
"It seems that the issue is not related to trade or monetary policy,
but rather to international relations
for which the issue of dollar smuggling was used as a cover,
allowing foreign banks to control the Iraqi market,
without changing the beneficiaries or transfer trends." End/25
https://almaalomah.me/news/97779/economy/اقتصادي:-الأردن-المستفيد-الأكبر-من-قرارات-واشنطن-ضد-البنوك-ا
Al-Nusairi: Comprehensive banking reform means modernizing and developing banks, ensuring their compliance with international standards, and transitioning to a rapidly growing economy.
Uses Economy News – Baghdad Economic and banking advisor Samir Al-Nusairi confirmed that the
banking reform project launched by the Central Bank last month in cooperation with the
government and the
global consulting firm Oliver Wyman
was held at a ceremony attended by the Prime Minister.
Al-Nusairi said in a televised interview followed by "Al-Eqtisad News" that the banking reform project aims primarily, within the specified timeframes, to
modernize and develop the private banking sector,
comply with international standards, transition to a rapidly growing national economy,
expand digital transformation,
enhance financial inclusion,
stimulate electronic payments,
strengthen cybersecurity,
use artificial intelligence to analyze and ensure the transparency of banking data,
create a financial center, and
authorize and license digital banks. He added that
it achieves
stimulating and sustainable returns for investors,
creates a fair competitive environment in the banking market, and
restores confidence in the banking sector.
He explained that the private banking sector achieved good business results in 2024,
despite 50% of our banks being subject to sanctions and restrictions on the use of the US dollar.
The ratio of credit granted to deposits reached 67.9%, which means the
banks are moving towards the real work of financing and investing in deposits.
The banks’ capital rose to 20 trillion dinars,
an increase of 8.7% due to the
implementation of the Central Bank’s instructions to raise capital to 400 billion dinars and
setting September 30, 2025 as the deadline for increasing the capital of the remaining banks.
Al-Nusairi pointed out that the objectives set for banking reform are in line with the main and sub-objectives of the Central Bank's third strategy for the years 2024-2026,
which comprises
7 main objectives,
24 sub-objectives, and
75 initiatives to achieve these objectives.
The Central Bank's management is working to implement them
in accordance with approved policies and programs and
in cooperation with relevant authorities.
views 389 Added 05/04/2025 - 10:16 AM https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=55098
Economist: Jordan Is The Biggest Beneficiary Of Washington's Decisions Against Iraqi Banks.
May 4, 15:08 Information/Baghdad..Economic expert Munir al-Obaidi confirmed on Sunday that the
US decision to restrict the operations of a large number of Iraqi banks,
on the pretext of dollar smuggling to China and Iran,
did not achieve its objectives.
Instead, it led to counterproductive results,
increasing the volume of remittances to those same countries.
Al-Obaidi said in a tweet followed by Al-Maalouma Agency,
"The US authorities had justified their decision by the fact that a
large portion of dollar sales in Iraq go to China,
which prompted them to suspend a number of Iraqi banks from foreign transactions,
while maintaining the activity of foreign banks, especially Jordanian ones." Al-Obaidi pointed out that
"official figures reveal a clear contradiction in this argument,
as the volume of imports in the first quarter of 2025 reached approximately $4 billion,
compared to $3.2 billion in the first quarter of 2023, i.e.,
before restrictions were imposed on Iraqi banks." He continued,
"What actually happened was the exclusion of Iraqi banks from external financial activity,
while the door was opened wide to foreign banks, particularly Jordanian ones,
which rushed to expand into the Iraqi market and benefit from the remittance flows." Al-Obaidi concluded by saying:
"It seems that the issue is not related to trade or monetary policy,
but rather to international relations
for which the issue of dollar smuggling was used as a cover,
allowing foreign banks to control the Iraqi market,
without changing the beneficiaries or transfer trends." End/25
https://almaalomah.me/news/97779/economy/اقتصادي:-الأردن-المستفيد-الأكبر-من-قرارات-واشنطن-ضد-البنوك-ا
Economist: Cash Liquidity Is Available, And The Currency Auction Is Further Strengthening It At Banks.
May 4 09:24 Information/Baghdad...Economic researcher Diaa Abdul Karim said on Sunday that
Iraqi dinar liquidity is available at banks and the Central Bank,
with the currency auction working to boost domestic demand. Abdul Karim told Al-Maalouma,
"The currency auction sells approximately $300 million daily,
which increases the liquidity in Iraqi dinars.
Baghdad receives monthly oil revenues from the Federal Reserve in dollars,
but the Federal Reserve sometimes fails to deliver these revenues to Iraq,
which is a clear violation of financial agreements." He added, "The process of
securing liquidity in its entirety
does not occur through rotating between the dollar and the dinar,
but rather through printing more denominations of banknotes
by deducting a percentage of the dollar from oil revenues
in exchange for printing Iraqi currency abroad." He explained that "the
impact of oil prices on
employee salaries and the
lack of liquidity
will not be evident at the present time, but rather
its repercussions will begin to appear in about six months
if oil prices continue to decline in global markets." End 25N
https://almaalomah.me/news/97730/economy/اقتصادي:-السيولة-النقدية-متوفرة-ومزاد-العملة-يزيد-تعزيزها-لد
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