Iraq Economic News and Points To Ponder Thursday Evening 10-30-24

Central Bank Governor: Qusay Saddam Seized $900 Million And Loaded It In Trucks In 2003

Posted on  2024-10-31 by sotaliraq   The Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, said that the lessons are now sufficient for the state to move towards setting a “strict and conservative” oil price in the general budget, to avoid the pressure of declining crude prices,

calling for the enactment of a law that sets the size of spending with a specific oil ceiling to ensure its coverage on the one hand, and to ensure the financing of investment projects on the other hand, noting that the three-year budget needs some new tables and amendments in line with the variables of oil prices.

Ali Al-Alaq, in a dialogue during the Merry Forum:

The role of the Central Bank cannot be reduced to the currency selling window and some marginal tasks. It is a fundamental pillar of economic and financial stability in the country. Here we must highlight a number of achievements since 2004 until today, the most important of which is maintaining the general price level, meaning the ability to manage the monetary mass in Iraq, in a way that does not lead to inflation or deflation.

After 2003, we inherited an abnormal situation devoid of any real basis for stability. Our reserves that year were $900 million, and they were seized by Qusay Saddam Hussein and loaded onto a truck. This is documented by dates and numbers.

 So we started from scratch. The money supply in circulation was only 4 trillion dinars. Today, the volume in circulation exceeds 100 trillion dinars, and our reserves have exceeded 100 billion dollars.

The inflation rate today is 3.8%, which is a typical rate that achieves stability and prosperity. It is an indicator of our ability to manage a monetary mass exceeding 104 trillion dinars, which does not allow pressure on purchasing power, and this is considered the most important factor in monetary and economic stability.

We have an additional mission, as we have to introduce all the tools, systems and entities that we have failed to catch up with the world with during the previous decades, and therefore there is a race against time to move towards the digital economy and advanced payment systems, as we have licensed 16 companies for electronic payment, and we are currently working on licensing digital banks, in addition to achieving advanced stages in establishing a national company for managing payments, and the Central Bank will be a partner in it to enhance it with sufficient support.

As for the reform dimension, we are currently working on two plans to reform government and private banks, which will lead to their restructuring in a way that ensures transparency, governance, and ownership structure in appropriate ways, to be consistent with international standards.

The last dimension of our work, which is not practiced by most central banks in the world, is that we work to stimulate the economy directly through lending initiatives to various sectors.

The volume of loans granted to the construction and industrial sectors has reached more than 13 trillion dinars, an amount that exceeds what has been lent throughout the history of the Iraqi state.

In addition, we have sought to launch initiatives to lend to small and micro-enterprises, and we have reached advanced stages of establishing a bank specialized in this initiative, and we have named it “Riyada” Bank.

We noticed that the inflation rate in 2023 was 7.5%, as the volume of issued currency jumped from 40 trillion to 100 trillion dinars, meaning that it increased in two years by an amount equivalent to its increase in the previous 18 years, and therefore we decided to withdraw part of the cash liquidity by raising the interest rate and attracting trillions of dinars from the market, although this measure is costly, but the Central Bank does not base its policies on profit and loss, but rather on the basis of performing its main function of controlling the market.

The increase in public debt is a result of the budget deficit, which is the result of increasing spending without increasing revenue. Over time, spending has become inflexible and cannot be reduced, such as the salary bill and others, and this causes a structural imbalance in the Iraqi economy.

The idea of ​​the three-year budget is in effect in many countries of the world, and we decided to move towards it in order to ensure stable implementation, although it requires the issuance of some tables and amendments to address some variables, such as oil prices, for example.

The fiscal year will end and the oil price rate remains within our estimates in the budget, but the lessons have become sufficient for us to set a conservative oil price so that the state does not face economic pressure with the fluctuations of the global oil market.

Therefore, a law must be passed that sets the share of expenditures from oil revenues with a certain ceiling, in order to ensure that it is covered on the one hand, and to ensure that the financing of investment projects that are exposed to blows with every drop in oil prices is not disrupted in order to cover the expenditure ceiling.   LINK

Central Bank Governor Reveals Important Figures About Iraq's Economy And Foreign Reserves

Time: 2024/10/30  Read: 3,848 times    {Economic: Al Furat News} The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq revealed important figures about the Iraqi economy and its foreign currency reserves.

Ali Al-Alaq said during his participation in the Middle East Forum 2024 (Miri) session in Erbil, that "the volume of currency issued in circulation is approaching 100 trillion dinars," indicating that "the foreign currency reserve exceeds 100 billion dollars."

He explained that "next year will witness major transformations in the restructuring of government and private banks."

He pointed out that "the growth rate of the money supply rose from 46 trillion to 100 trillion within two years," noting that "the external debt does not exceed 20 billion dollars." LINK

Al-Raqqa confirmed that "the inflation rate currently stands at 3.8%, which is a typical rate," revealing that "the Central Bank has granted a license to 16 electronic payment companies." 

Central Bank Governor Reveals Important Figures About Iraq's Economy And Foreign Reserves

Time: 2024/10/30 20:14:47 Read: 3,848 times

{Economic: Al Furat News} The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq revealed important figures about the Iraqi economy and its foreign currency reserves.

Ali Al-Alaq said during his participation in the Middle East Forum 2024 (Miri) session in Erbil, that "the volume of currency issued in circulation is approaching 100 trillion dinars," indicating that "the foreign currency reserve exceeds 100 billion dollars."

He explained that "next year will witness major transformations in the restructuring of government and private banks."

He pointed out that "the growth rate of the money supply rose from 46 trillion to 100 trillion within two years," noting that "the external debt does not exceed 20 billion dollars."

Al-Raqqa confirmed that "the inflation rate currently stands at 3.8%, which is a typical rate," revealing that "the Central Bank has granted a license to 16 electronic payment companies."    LINK

The Iraqi Market Trades Shares Worth More Than 17 Billion Dinars In A Week

Thursday 31 October 2024 14:40 | Economic Number of readings: 126   Baghdad / NINA / The Iraq Stock Exchange announced that the value of shares traded during the five sessions it organized this week, which is about to end, amounted to more than 17 billion dinars.

According to the recorded indicators, the number of shares traded during this week amounted to more than 8 billion shares, with a value of more than (17) billion dinars.

The ISX60 market trading index closed for the first session of the week at (1000.26) points, while the index closed at the end of the week at (1044.30) points, achieving an increase of (4.22%) over its closing at the beginning of the session.

The ISX15 market trading index closed for the first session of the week at (1073.47) points, while the index closed at the end of the week at (1116.07) points, achieving an increase of (3.82%) over its closing at the beginning of the session.

During the week, (6550) buy and sell contracts were executed on the shares of companies listed on the market. / End7    https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=1165401

US Elections And Iraq.. Official Comment On The Shape Of The Upcoming Relationship With The New President

Time: 2024/10/31 Read: 1,950 times   {Politics: Al Furat News} Iraq does not hide its pursuit of a new phase of strategic relations with the United States of America, focusing more on politics, economics and energy, after having focused for many years on the security and military fields.

Positions in Iraq vary between the official position, which sees that relations are heading for the better, and the position of experts and observers who believe that the next administration, whether Republican or Democratic, will use the "principle of force" in its policy with Iraq.

Farhad Alaeddin, the Prime Minister's advisor for foreign relations, says: "Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming US elections, relations between Iraq and the United States will remain governed by the Strategic Framework Agreement, common interests, and cooperation in the areas of security, energy, economic investments, and cultural exchange."

He points to "the importance of Iraq as a center of stability in the region, for the role it plays in achieving regional balances and stability."

On October 27, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, while chairing the regular meeting of the Higher Coordination Committee for the Strategic Framework Agreement between Baghdad and Washington, stressed the importance of strengthening relations with America and moving towards a solid economic partnership.

Hussein stressed the need not to focus on military and security aspects only, but rather to expand cooperation to include economic, health, educational, and environmental fields.

Relations between Baghdad and Washington have focused over the past two decades on military, security and counter-terrorism aspects, due to the conditions that Iraq was experiencing, but they are seeking to expand them to include other areas.

Iraqi-American relations are subject to the Strategic Framework Agreement that Iraq signed with the United States in 2008, and the two sides began implementing its provisions in 2009. The agreement includes 11 articles covering the diplomatic, political, security, economic and cultural fields, and stipulates long-term relations between the two countries based on the principle of equality in sovereignty, rights and common interests.   LINK

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