Iraq Economic News and Points to Ponder Thursday Evening 2-20-25
Rafidain Bank Enhances The Efficiency Of Its Services By Expanding The Application Of The Electronic Q System
Thursday 20 February 2025 Economic Number of readings: 329 Baghdad / NINA / Rafidain Bank announced the expansion of the application of the electronic Q System to manage and organize customer waiting, to include more than 27 branches in Baghdad and the governorates, with a gradual plan to generalize it to other branches later.
The bank stated in a statement: "This trend reflects the bank's commitment to adopting the latest banking technologies to ensure the provision of more efficient and faster services, as the system provides an advanced mechanism to organize the movement of customers within the branches, reduce waiting periods, and determine the order of customers according to service priority, with an accurate time estimate for completing transactions.
He added: "This development comes within the bank's vision to enhance digital transformation and raise the level of customer satisfaction, by providing innovative solutions that contribute to improving the efficiency of banking operations and providing a smoother and more accurate experience. / End https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=1187748
Financial Supervision: We Have Indicated A Clear Renaissance In Our National Industries
Money and business Economy News – Baghdad The Federal Board of Financial Supervision indicated the presence of signs of progress in the national industrial reality during recent years, and while the Board indicated that Iraq relies in its federal budgets on the revenues of its oil exports to a large extent, it called for the implementation and activation of the consumer protection and local product laws to advance it.
The Assistant Director General of the Industrial Activity Audit Department at the Bureau, Dr. Iyad Aziz Saleh, said in an interview with "Al-Sabah", followed by "Al-Eqtisad News", that "the industrial sector in Iraq is one of the most prominent components of the non-oil economy, and strategies have been adopted to encourage and enhance investment, which were set by the Investment Law of 2006 (amended) in order to raise the efficiency of the performance of industrial companies that aim to produce and market manufactured products according to approved specifications for each product to meet local needs,"
noting that "there are standard products to meet the needs of the consumer such as (cement, dairy, soap and oils), and non-standard products that are produced according to demand such as the manufacture of electric generators of various capacities and voltage transformers, which are equipped only according to the needs of the Ministry of Electricity."
He added, "Some companies have obtained a certificate from the international ISO organization, which is an independent body. These specifications are a series of frameworks that help the department manage its business effectively and confirm and guarantee the quality of products such as Iraqi cement and food products."
dilapidated production lines
Saleh explained that “the majority of industrial companies in the country operate at low capacity due to the old machines, equipment and production lines, as most of them date back to the seventies and eighties of the last century, as they operate with old technology that does not keep pace with the progress achieved in the industrial sector, as well as the inability of the national grid to supply many factories with electrical power, and the openness of the local market to imported products, which had an impact on the lack of competition of national products in market prices and quality.”
He stressed that "the Ministry of Industry and Minerals has adopted a plan to rehabilitate and develop most companies through partnership contracts with the private sector, based on the Public Companies Law No. (22) of 1997 (amended), which regulates the work of state-owned public companies in partnership or partnership with a foreign company to implement work within its activities inside Iraq,
relying on the legal basis of partnership contracts within the aforementioned law, which gave companies the right to participate with Arab and foreign companies and institutions to implement work related to the company's objectives inside Iraq,
as well as relying on the Investment Law No. (13) of 2006 (amended), including public sector projects contracted to rehabilitate or operate with the private and mixed sector with all the advantages and guarantees included in the aforementioned law, and the law applies to projects that were contracted before the enforcement of this law."
Merger of companies
He continued, "The Ministry of Industry worked on merging companies based on Cabinet Resolution No. (360) of 2015, but most of these companies were exposed to problems and obstacles as a result of not completing their merger procedures, such as the General Company for Design and Implementation of Projects, which was established as a result of the government reform plan after the merger of three previous companies, which suffers from not completing the legal procedures for the merger,
which led to the absence of final accounts certified by the Federal Financial Supervision Bureau for the merged companies, which stipulated in the merger resolution that the rights and obligations of the three companies be transferred to the parent company."
He explained that “the termination of contracts for companies is done through the legal department in them and taking measures according to the terms of the contract against the defaulting companies, and there may be an extension of the contract period to give an opportunity to complete the implementation of the contract or terminate it,” noting that “the regulatory bodies present in the government departments audit the concluded contracts and implement them according to the plan of the Bureau and record the regulatory observations regarding them and the extent of compliance with the terms of the contracts and other laws related to them.”
Protection laws
Saleh called for "activating the Iraqi Products Protection Law No. (11) of 2010 (amended) after the changes that occurred in the Iraqi economy and opening markets to global trade and flooding local markets with foreign products similar to local production at a lower price, which led to hindering the establishment of a local industry and the loss of fair competition."
He stressed that "Iraq today is in dire need of activating customs tariff laws, as it relies in its federal budgets on oil export revenues by approximately (90 percent), and Consumer Protection Law No. (181) of 2018 must be activated as it is one of the regulations designed to guarantee consumer rights, fair trade and competition, which was designed to prevent acts related to fraud or unfair practices to obtain more advantages over other competitors, and also provides additional protection for the most vulnerable groups in society."
Aziz expressed his hope to protect the local product "in a way that guarantees support and protection of industrial projects and their ability to compete with industries in neighboring countries." https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=52910
Iraq Stock Exchange: Traded Shares Worth More Than 9 Billion Dinars
Thursday 20 February 2025 | Economic Number of readings: 271 Baghdad / NINA / The Iraq Stock Exchange announced today that the value of traded shares amounted to more than 9 billion dinars in five sessions organized during the third week of February.
According to the weekly trading indicators of the market, these sessions were organized from Sunday until Thursday of the current week, which is about to end, and with which the market closes its doors until Sunday of next week.
The number of traded shares during this week amounted to more than 8 billion shares with a financial value exceeding 9 billion dinars.
The ISX60 market trading index closed for the first session of the week at (1065.06) points, while the index closed at the end of the week at (1056.79) points, achieving a decrease of (0.78%) from its closing at the beginning of the session.
The ISX15 market trading index closed for the first session of the week at (1150.68) points, while the index closed at the end of the week at (1137.97) points, achieving a decrease of (1.12%) from its closing at the beginning of the session.
During the week, (3536) purchase and sale contracts were executed on the shares of companies listed on the market./End https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=1187810
Oil Prices Fall As US Crude Inventories Rise
energy Economy News – Baghdad Oil prices fell "slightly" on Thursday after an industry report showed a build in U.S. crude inventories and as tariff concerns weighed on sentiment, reversing gains made in the previous session on worries about supply disruptions from Russia.
Brent crude futures were down 22 cents, or 0.29 percent, at $75.82 a barrel by 01:35 GMT.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 30 cents, or 0.42 percent, to $71.95 a barrel.
In addition to rising U.S. inventories, the Trump administration’s announced tariffs on imports could weigh on oil prices by raising the cost of consumer goods, weakening the global economy and reducing demand for fuel. Concerns about European and Chinese demand have also helped keep prices in check.
But concerns about other oil supply flows limited losses. Russia said oil flows through the Caspian Sea pipeline, a major route for crude exports from Kazakhstan, fell by 30% to 40% on Tuesday after a drone attack in Ukraine on a pumping station.
U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.34 million barrels last week, market sources said on Wednesday, citing data from the American Petroleum Institute. Gasoline stocks rose by 2.83 million barrels, while distillate inventories fell by 2.69 million barrels, the sources added. https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=52908
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