Iraq Economic News and Points To Ponder Tuesday AM 9-10-24
An Economist Warns Of The Collapse Of The Iraqi Economy And Provides Solutions
Economy | 09/09/2024 Mawazine News – Baghdad An economic researcher considered the existence of 8 hidden weaknesses in the Iraqi economy, in a comment on fears of the collapse of the economy,
describing that the collapse essentially occurred a long time ago, and fluctuations in oil prices prolong or accelerate the final collapse.
Economic researcher Manar Al-Obaidi said in a statement that with the decline in oil prices and the unprecedented rise in operating expenses to reach a growth rate in current expenditures exceeding 30% and a decline in revenues by 16%, the most important question arises:
Is the Iraqi economy facing a crisis or collapse?
The sustainability of any economy depends primarily on the diversity of its sources and the control and planning of its expenditures.”
He continued, “We cannot expect the sustainability of an economy in which more than 500,000 researchers enter the labor market annually and is unable to create productive job opportunities with more than 20 to 30 thousand opportunities as a maximum, and an economy based on sales of one commodity and whose prices are not controlled through One port and only two countries.”
He described the Iraqi economy as “an
economy based on a deteriorating business environment with no role for the private sector in turning the wheel of the economy, an
economy that adopts the private sector and pastoral laws and legislation and gives preference to the public sector, a
consumer economy based on an unprecedented consumption pattern without production having a role, an
economy that employs more than 6 million employees with almost non-existent productivity, an
economy marred by corruption, lack of transparency and inequality of opportunities, an
economy that does not have foreign investments and is unable to attract them.” He concluded:
“The collapse occurred a long time ago, and the
fluctuations that are occurring in oil prices are merely prolonging or accelerating the collapse process, and the
manifestations of the collapse will be faster than the decline in oil prices.” https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=254671
The Story Of The Suspicious Dollar Transfer.” An American Newspaper Interviews Ali Ghulam At His Palace In London, “Near The American Embassy.”
Policy 2024-09-09 | 7,321 views Alsumaria News-Politics A Wall Street Journal report revealed the extent of Ali Ghulam’s influence on the dollar crisis in Iraq, as he was the reason for the American side imposing strict control on dollar transfers from Iraq, while
Ghulam was described as “the undisputed king of the dollar in Iraq for a decade.”
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard was financed with dollars using suspicious import receipts, which is denied by Gholam, who lives in his mansion in London near the residence of the American ambassador to Britain.
The newspaper pointed out that the American side was aware of these problems since 2012, but did not want to plunge Iraq into an economic crisis.
The newspaper said in an article translated by Al Sumerian, that Ali Ghulam was the undisputed king of the dollar in Iraq for nearly a decade, and
his three banks in Baghdad transferred tens of billions of dollars at that time outside the country, ostensibly to buy car parts, furniture and other imports, indicating
He was one of the most senior workers in the ad hoc banking system that was established nearly two decades ago under the American occupation and that gave the Federal Reserve Bank of New York a key role in processing Iraq's international transactions. She noted that
years later, when the Federal Reserve finally began to look more closely at where the money was going, it closed it almost overnight, as
American officials suspected that its banks were among more than two dozen Iraqi banks involved in transferring dollars to Iran and its allies., using front companies and false invoices to circumvent sanctions that prevent Iran from accessing the global financial system.
The newspaper reported that audits of Gholam's banks, which were completed in May, revealed unusual details of dollar transactions abroad, which auditors said raised concerns about money laundering. Gholam denied these allegations in interviews.
The newspaper explains that among Iraqi banks in general, it was not possible to trace up to 80% of the bank transfers worth more than $250 million that flow through them on some days, and part of this amount went secretly to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The crackdown on Iraqi banks began in late 2022 after more than a decade of US inaction, even after the Pentagon's inspector general warned as far back as 2012 of the potential for fraud worth $800 million a week.
Current and former US officials said the US had imposed... Over the years, it has imposed temporary restrictions on cash flows to Iraq, but fears that strict or permanent controls will plunge Iraq into economic chaos and setback its battle against ISIS.
Ghulam, 42, now based in London, ran an empire that handled the lion's share of dollars transferred outside Iraq, on some days as much as 20 percent of wire transfers, he and Iraqi banking officials said.
Its banks - Iraqi Middle East Investment Bank, Al Ansari Islamic Bank, and Islamic Holding Bank - were the first to be banned from dollar transactions by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department in late 2022.
US officials did not explain the decision publicly, and said privately that the banks had stopped.
He was suspended from work due to the large volume of suspicious transactions, and no action was taken against Ghulam personally.
Gholam denied that his banks knowingly sent money to the Quds Force or the Iranian government. He said:
"The Americans have nothing against me.
I have nothing to do with money laundering or Iran."
He said that his life in London, where he and his family live after moving from Baghdad in 2018, has been turned upside down since the loss of the US dollar.
His $40 million home, which was recently renovated with shiny marble floors, a swimming pool in the basement and a parrot cage, is located Just a few blocks from the US ambassador's residence, after a walk, he often heads to his favorite London restaurants in his Rolls-Royce SUV.
“The system is bad, but every bank in Iraq was operating under the same system,” Ghulam said. The Americans came up with this system?
Since the ban on Gholam's banks, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve have been pressing for more sweeping changes in Iraq.
The United States has banned more than two dozen other Iraqi banks from conducting transactions in dollars.
Strict new rules imposed by the Central Bank of Iraq since late 2022 under American pressure require banks to disclose the final recipients of bank transfers.
The New York Federal Reserve Bank at that time began carefully monitoring wire transfers from Iraq's official accounts, rejecting any transfers that did not comply with standard procedures for transferring international funds, officials said.
Parliamentary Finance: Electronic Payment Achieved 7 Gains And Prevented The Smuggling Of Funds Out Of Iraq
Economy Baghdad - IA - Nassar Al-Hajj Monday, the Parliamentary Finance Committee confirmed the achievement of 7 major gains after electronic payment came into effect, and
while it indicated its adoption to prevent the smuggling and laundering of money outside Iraq, it recommended its generalization in all financial transactions.
Committee member Mustafa Al-Karaawi told the Iraqi News Agency (INA):
“There are many gains achieved from introducing the electronic payment experience into effect, including
reducing circulation in paper currency and thus
reducing the costs resulting from printing banknotes and replacing damaged ones, as well as
supporting balances in private bank accounts.” And government investments, as well as
investment in supporting the private and commercial sectors and loans, as well as
controlling funds more broadly and
preventing their smuggling and laundering outside Iraq.” He added,
"This also led to controlling the cash supply and not having it in people's homes, but rather in banks, in order to invest and circulate it in the economic process,"
proposing, "generalizing electronic payment in all financial transactions in Iraq."
Al-Karawi suggested encouraging more citizens to use electronic payment by offering incentives and discounts to everyone who uses electronic payment so that there is a real shift and a desire among citizens to go to it and thus achieve the public interest. https://www.ina.iq/216566--7-.html
Including The Growth Of Banking Liquidity.. A Government Advisor Reveals 3 Goals For Electronic Payment
Economy Baghdad - INA - Amna Al-Salami Today, Monday, Advisor to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Saleh, revealed three goals for the transition from cash payments to electronic ones, while noting that it will achieve growth in banking liquidity.
Saleh told the Iraqi News Agency (INA):
“The shift from cash payments to electronic payments will undoubtedly achieve three basic goals in modernizing digital life in Iraq at the same time,
the first of which is maximizing the level of cash flows to the banking system,
which only accounts for 15%.” “of the total currency issued in circulation,
which leads to reducing the phenomenon of bank liquidity risks and uncertainty and celebrating idle hedge liquidity.”
He added, "The second goal will result in growth in banking liquidity that leads to the growth of monetary credit and achieving a higher level of financial depth, and what is linked to the rise in credit indicators to the GDP does not exceed 11% of the GDP, which is considered very low according to the international standard." One of the indicators of financial depth is providing long-term financing, managing risks, and offering diverse investment options.” Saleh continued,
“The third goal is to increase and regular government cash revenues, or what is called cash flows to the public treasury, in an accelerated manner, within the framework of developing the treasury single account, which is one of the most important goals of financial reform in Iraq.
In light of the above, the country will witness a technical conference.” For electronic payments, all stakeholders concerned with electronic payment will come together to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the stage of transformation towards digital payments, chart future paths, evaluate the successes achieved, and come up with an integrated vision for moving to the next digital stage in payments in our country.” He pointed out,
“The digital payments policies launched by the government a year ago are considered one of the most important issues that the government program came up with in the scope of applying the principles of electronic governance, as its most important arms are modernizing the efficiency of payment systems in our country, in the transition from cash payments to digital payments.”
The applications of this accelerated transformation have been supported by many positive factors, including the growing number of electronic payment companies throughout the country to approximately 17 payment companies, and most of them are active in the economic work arena.” Saleh added,
“One of the positive factors that supported this conversion is the trend towards electronic banking by approving a number of active digital banks in this regard, in addition to the development of the digital infrastructure related to electronic payment that the Central Bank of Iraq maintains and is developing rapidly, including the application Standard supervisory and regulatory standards for digital payments, accompanied by the expansion of the use of electronic payment devices, and finally the Council of Ministers’ adoption of facilitating legal instructions and controls to regulate the payments sector and digital transformation, as well as the shift of collection operations for government institutions towards electronic collection.”
He continued, "Digital payments have risen at government gas stations and others, for example, to more than 60% of their payment operations currently, and they are in an increasing movement for the stations to complete all digital collection requirements until the end of this year.
Government electronic collection has also been completed in the joints of government activity."
All and according to the same timeline in the shift towards electronic collection, the results expected from the spread of digital payments are represented by an increase in the number of bank accounts to approximately 16 million bank accounts, which cover about 50% of the number of adults in our country, and that the goal is for every adult citizen to have a bank account.".
Saleh stated, “This boom in the number of adult bank accounts was reinforced by the use of electronic payment cards, which touched approximately 20 million citizens holding electronic payment cards, meaning that adult electronic payment card holders touch approximately 60% of the total number of those adults, despite the dominance of electronic payment cards.”
Prepayment, which is linked to the accounts of the issuing bank companies, as it requires that electronic payment cards be linked directly to a personal bank account, which reflects the necessity of the rapid growth of the goals of digital financial inclusion, and
the aspiration for banking services that touch the poorest and most vulnerable groups in society by expanding the scope of use. Digital or electronic payment cards. https://www.ina.iq/216536--3-.html
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