Iraq News Highlights Thurs AM 7-2-20
Iraq News Highlights Thurs AM 7-2-20
TLM 724 Administrator BondLady’s Corner
Separate Planning From Implementation
Thursday 02 July 2020 Dr.. In the name of Brahimi The problem of statistics and data is one of the main problems in Iraq, because the lack of data and its inaccuracy cause another more serious problem, which is the inability to provide appropriate solutions in various fields, and among the topics that have been widely debated among economists is the issue of the size of the actual public investment spending During the past years, when it was estimated that it reached $ 300 billion for the period (2003-2019), and the question here is what has been achieved from these sums? How can we address the obvious imbalance In which?
A review of the implementation of the investment budgets for the mentioned period shows that the investment spending suffered from two problems of low implementation rates and fluctuation, in terms of the actual spending ratios to the plan in the public budgets, according to the data issued by the Federal Ministry of Planning, as the average implementation rates reached about (60 percent) for the mentioned period And the low rates of implementation are mainly due to poor security conditions, as well as the causes related to mismanagement, routine and corruption, knowing that some question even this percentage and see that the truth is much less than that, and if we leave the statistics and data and rely on an analysis of the data that we see, we can say Investment spending is one of the gates of corruption, which is difficult to control under the established mechanisms, and therefore this issue needs a real deal to advance the reality of the economy. Iraqi.
The previous government has attempted to solve the problem through the Iraqi-Chinese agreement and to establish an investment fund to be implemented under high-level government supervision, especially for the executing companies and it is a good step if success was written to them, but the other solution that we propose here is to form an entity (body or any naming Other) are related to the prime minister working to assign and follow-up investment projects within the general budget instead of ministries,
that is, ministries specialize in planning the investment projects that they need within their field while the proposed body is concerned with implementation procedures and thus separating the planning body from the implementation side which we believe is important in facing corruption, and this proposal We put it before the attention of the current government as it prepares its program for economic reform, perhaps it will be useful and capable Applicable.
https://alsabaah.iq/27217/%D9%81%D8%B5%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%B7%D9%8A%D8%B7-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%86%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B0
The Central Cuts The Interest On Small And Medium Loans
Thursday 02 July 2020 Baghdad / Al-Sabah The Association of Iraqi Private Banks announced that the Central Bank of Iraq would reduce the interest rate on loans within the initiative of the Central Bank of Iraq from 6.3 percent to 4 percent to accelerate the recovery of the Iraqi economy after it was damaged by the Corona pandemic.
The executive director of the Association of Iraqi Private Banks, Ali Tariq, said that "the economic activity of Iraq witnessed a decline during the last period, due to the direct impact of the Corona pandemic on the global economy and the drop in oil prices, which reduced Iraq’s revenues during the last period, so the Iraqi Central Bank decided to reduce the interest rate On his initiative to support micro, small, medium and large enterprises in support of the economy the National".
Tariq pointed out that "the Central Bank of Iraq decided to cut interest on loans that end at 20 million from 4.8 percent to 3.5 percent, while loans that start from 21 million dinars to one billion dinars, interest will be 4 percent after it was 6.3 percent."
https://alsabaah.iq/27215/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%B2%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D8%AE%D9%81%D8%B6-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%A6%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B6-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%BA%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B3%
News and analysis / Iraqi economy, to where?
Qasim al-Gharawi161 2020-07-01 Qassim Al-Gharawi ||
News:
Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Allawi warned that the Iraqi economy may face "shocks that we will not be able to deal with" unless reform measures are adopted in less than a year.
Analysis:
"Reform is necessary," and it should be on sound and rapid foundations during this year. Because of the drop in oil prices, we may face more powerful shocks if we are not able to address them, while expectations indicate that the Iraqi economy will face a 10 percent contraction during the year.
The situation today is "worse" because Iraq faces an "existential economic situation".
At that point, the price of a barrel of oil was approximately $ 35, but the number of state employees was less than a million.
Today there are more than four million employees, and many other Iraqis who are paid salaries and pensions. This means a monthly sum of between four and five billion dollars.
And with one in five Iraqis receiving government aid, the bill becomes heavier for the country that depends on paying all its expenditures on oil whose prices collapsed months ago with a severe shortage of demand for it.
An empty safe and "aliens". And double salaries. The government must pay the salaries of the months of June and July, on time, by borrowing from government banks.
However, the minister warned that these measures are possible for a short period, otherwise "they will affect the price structure, and consequently on inflation, which will in turn affect the exchange rate and the reserve in the central bank."
He added that in the face of the expenditures that have increased over the years, the government found the treasury empty, after 17 years of the American invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime and established a new political system that was shattered by corruption and cronyism, and placed Iraq in the high ranks among the list of the most corrupt countries in the world.
The government is supposed to have one and a half months of expenditures before it faces crises. He was supposed to have liquidity between ten to 15 trillion dinars in the state’s treasury, but the treasury contained only two trillion dinars.
Today, experts believe that the entire financial system of Iraq, the second largest oil producer in OPEC, should be reviewed.
If the reform steps fail in light of the low oil prices, then 40 million Iraqis will have to submit to a strict austerity policy that may last for "two years."
The authorities will address gaps in the spending schedule, especially with regard to multiple salaries or "aliens" as they are called, and they are registered in the payroll without practicing work in addition to double salaries in most ministries.
At the government level, long-awaited promises to diversify the economy, not to make the country's fate dependent on global crude markets, and start discussions with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund will have to be implemented.
But if the price of oil continues at this level for a year, and spending remains the same, undoubtedly we will hit a wall.
We cannot run a country, especially from the economic side, with only hope for higher oil prices to cover costs.
The question: Can a government formed during the country's most serious social crisis carry out a complete overhaul of the economy?
Although Allawi experienced a similar crisis in 2005, this time he acknowledged that the crisis of confidence between citizens and the authority widened, after six months of an unprecedented popular uprising that was suppressed by force by the previous government of Adel Abdul Mahdi.
At the beginning of this month, when pensions were deducted in the first steps of the government austerity policy, the protest was unanimous against Allawi and Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, even within the parliament that is usually entrusted with approving reforms, especially the fight against corruption that led to the evaporation of more than 450 billion Dollars of public money since 2003.
We are awaiting the economic reform paper that will boost the state’s revenues by other sources such as customs and taxes and strengthening the private sector, which will be presented within three months to Parliament in an attempt to save the situation that Iraq is going through from stifling financial and economic crises due to low oil prices due to the failure of previous governments to find industrial, agricultural and investment alternatives as revenue to supply the treasury with money Instead of relying on oil as the sole and primary source for Iraq.
http://burathanews.com/arabic/economic/371889
Washington comments on Turkish strikes in northern Iraq and sends a message to Baghdad, Erbil and Ankara
Political| 02:24 - 02/07/2020 Baghdad - Mawazine News,
The US State Department, Ankara, Baghdad and Erbil, have called for joint action to restore security and peace, expressing their indignation for civilian casualties due to Turkish attacks.
The ministry said during a statement: "Washington is dissatisfied with the loss of civilian casualties in the areas experiencing Turkish attacks," stressing that "all countries must respect the sovereignty of Iraqi lands."
She added: "All efforts should be aimed at hunting down the remnants of the ISIS terrorist organization. From this standpoint, the United States requests Turkey to help Iraq to confront ISIS gangs, and Washington calls on Baghdad, Ankara and the Kurdistan region to work together to restore security and peace in the region."
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=108003
Important Decisions To Strengthen Work In The Ports And Tighten Control
Local| 02:12 - 02/07/2020 Baghdad - Mawazine News
, The Border Ports Authority revealed, on Thursday, upcoming important decisions regarding strengthening work in the ports and tightening control over them.
In a statement, Mawazine News received a copy of it, the commission said, "The head of the commission, Omar Adnan Al-Waeli, participated in the special meeting to discuss the reality of the border outlets and ways to improve their performance in order to achieve the implementation of the government program strategy and enhance the state's revenues in light of the financial and economic crisis that our country is going through. , Which was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi.
According to the statement, Al-Waeli said, "The meeting with the Prime Minister had important outputs by agreeing on a number of measures necessary for the provisions of control over the mechanism of work in border crossings and finding plans to increase the level of revenue and emphasizing the prevention of any external interference aimed at tampering with the state's capabilities and creating a safe environment for workers in the outlets. Borderlands. "
He added that "the directives of the Prime Minister were accurate and practical by emphasizing the selection of competent elements of employees working in border crossings with experience and characterized by integrity and professionalism to perform their work and achieve the desired goals through them."
Al-Waeli continued, "There are a number of important decisions that will be issued to reinforce the work of the Ports Authority with the provisions of its strict control through its legal powers in supervision, control, audit and security investigation on all departments operating in the ports in a way that achieves government directions and supports the federal budget by maximizing revenue."
The Chairman of the Commission indicated, "This interest by the Prime Minister gave a positive and real picture of the state's interest in reforming the reality of the border outlets through consultations with the relevant authorities to reach the desired goal of the provisions of control and reform the reality of the border outlets.
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=108001
Security Council: Iraq And Turkey Must Solve Their Problems Politically, Not Militarily
Political| 01:02 - 02/07/2020 BAGHDAD - Mawazine News
The United Nations Security Council President, Christophe Heusken, Iraq and Turkey, called for a solution to their political rather than military problems, in response to the military operations of the Turkish forces in southern Kurdistan, usually "disturbing".
Heuskin said, in a press statement carried by Kurdish media, that "there is no information about whether Iraq has requested a special meeting for that process."
He added, "Turkey and Iraq should solve their problems politically."
He added, "On Iraq and Turkey, we are looking with concern for this situation. There was no claim that this issue be part of the Security Council's working list. At least I do not know, except that I only spent 14 hours in the presidency of the Security Council, and I believe that Conflict and disagreement between neighboring countries must be resolved politically, not militarily.
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=107983
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