Iraq Economic News and Points to Ponder Thursday Evening 1-23-25

Auction Does Not Build The Economy - Khalil Ibrahim Al-Abidi  January 12, 2025

The mission of the world's central banks is to control the rhythm of the economy, by controlling the interest rate, not by auction.

It is the bank of banks, working through clearing and opening credit, and ensuring the protection of the country's currency from damage and decline against other currencies.

It issues a currency whose value is evaluated in gold, not in the currency of others, upon request. The auction is an innovation of Bremer since the occupation, and we have become accustomed to the mistake and it has become a lifeline.

Gentlemen... The Central Bank did well recently and left the auction platform, and returned to respect its currency, which is the dinar.

What is required today, as we are at the beginning of the year, is to think carefully about what the repercussions will be, and to return with determination to the documentary cycle in imports, and to work without selling the currency by opening credit for those who want to import,

by relying on our government banks after purging them of corruption and identifying correspondent banks for those who carry sobriety and integrity of correspondence, and finally determining the scale of priorities when importing and encouraging national production and exploitation of raw materials,

and imposing exorbitant fees to protect industries and the rest of the products, and working to follow up on what is imported under the import license and ridding the country of the decline of its currency and the danger of imports,

and the most important step is to zero out the dinar, and buy the 1,250 old dinars for one dinar of the new currency during the exchange after printing the one dinar denomination, and the value of one dinar will be one dollar through the documentary import cycle, and we have sufficient revenues in addition to the sovereign reserves.

Making the value of one dinar equal to one dollar will keep the citizen, merchant, traveler, doctor, etc. away from running after the dollar. Rather, he will be reassured that his currency is valid for purchase and exchange wherever he is, and this is the point of safety.   LINK

International Report Confirms The Strength And Solidity Of Iraq’s System In Combating Money Laundering And Terrorist Financing

Time: 2025/01/23 09:14:21 Read: 2,405 times  {Economic: Al Furat News} An official at the Central Bank of Iraq revealed the issuance of a report by the Financial Action Task Force on combating money laundering and terrorist financing in Iraq.

Hussein Al-Maqram, representative of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Office at the Central Bank, said in a press statement that “the Financial Action Task Force issued a report confirming the strength and solidity of the system followed in Iraq with regard to combating money laundering and terrorist financing.”

He added that "the report reflects the strong system in Iraq to combat these crimes, and the important efforts made by the state to combat them in accordance with international standards."

Al-Maqram pointed out that "the report focused on understanding the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, and the effectiveness of implementing measures to combat these crimes, including international cooperation, confiscation of criminal proceeds, and investigation and prosecution procedures."

He continued by saying: “Based on the annual and comprehensive training plan to raise the level of knowledge and commitment to the requirements imposed in the field of combating money laundering, financing terrorism and financing the proliferation of weapons, the number of trainees concerned with the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing system during the past year reached (3415) trainees.” LINK

FATF Commends Central Bank's Anti-Money Laundering Measures

Banks   Economy News – Baghdad   The Financial Action Task Force praised the measures taken by the Central Bank of Iraq to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

The representative of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Office at the Central Bank of Iraq, Hussein Al-Maqram, said in an interview with “Al-Sabah” followed by “Al-Eqtisad News” that the International Financial Action Task Force issued a report in which it confirmed the strength and solidity of the system followed in Iraq with regard to combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

He explained that "the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) adopted, in its general meeting held in the State of Bahrain last year, the mutual evaluation report of the Republic of Iraq, which reflects its great commitment to implementing international standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing."

Al-Maqram added that "the report reflects the solid system in Iraq to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, and the significant efforts made by the state to combat these crimes in accordance with international standards in this regard," noting that "the report focused on understanding the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, and the effectiveness of implementing measures to combat these crimes, including international cooperation, confiscation of criminal proceeds, and investigation and prosecution procedures."

Al-Muqrim explained that "the mutual evaluation process of the Republic of Iraq was completed in accordance with the standards approved by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The evaluation resulted in identifying strengths that reflect the efforts made to enhance compliance with the standards of combating money laundering and terrorist financing, in addition to identifying weaknesses that need improvement and treatment.

At the same time, the Republic of Iraq continues to work seriously to address the points identified in the report, by implementing corrective plans and procedures aimed at strengthening its financial and legal system in line with international requirements.

This comes within the framework of Iraq's commitment to continuous cooperation with the Financial Action Task Force, similar to the rest of the member states."

He added that "the office works within the framework of the National Strategy for Combating Money Laundering, Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation of Arms for the period (2023-2027), which aims to enhance efforts to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism through a set of specific objectives and axes.

It is also currently working on following up and implementing the update of the national assessment process for money laundering and financing of terrorism risks related to the anti-money laundering and financing of terrorism system, which is one of the national efforts to enhance compliance with the international standards issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

This process is considered an important tool for analyzing and identifying the risks facing the financial and economic system in Iraq."

The representative of the office at the Central Bank confirmed that, "Based on the annual and comprehensive training plan to raise the level of knowledge and commitment to the requirements imposed in the field of combating money laundering, financing terrorism and financing the proliferation of weapons, the number of trainees concerned with the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing system reached (3415) trainees during the past year 2024."https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=52222

Gold Prices Stabilize As Dollar Falls In Baghdad

Stock Exchange  Economy News – Baghdad  The prices of "foreign and Iraqi" gold stabilized in the local markets in the capital, Baghdad, today, Thursday (January 23, 2025).

Gold prices in the wholesale markets on Al-Nahr Street in the capital, Baghdad, this morning recorded a selling price for one mithqal of 21 karat Gulf, Turkish and European gold of 282 thousand dinars, and a purchase price of 278 thousand dinars.

The selling price of one mithqal of 21-karat Iraqi gold reached 552 thousand dinars, and the purchase price was 548 thousand.

As for gold prices in goldsmiths’ shops, the selling price of a mithqal of 21-karat Gulf gold ranges between 585,000 and 595,000 dinars, while the selling price of a mithqal of Iraqi gold ranges between 555,000 and 565,000 dinars.  https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=52227

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