Iraqi News Highlights and Points to Ponder Monday AM 11-27-23

Adviser To The Prime Minister: The Electronic Payment System Will Raise The Value Of The Dinar Against The Dollar

Time: 11/27/2023  Read: 2,158 times  {Economic: Al-Furat News} Mazhar Muhammad Saleh, financial advisor to Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani, said that the electronic payment system will preserve the monetary supply of the Iraqi dinar and will raise its value against the dollar in later stages.

Saleh explained, in a press statement, that “the cash payments system is linked to a high degree of certainty whenever payments are made by electronic or digital means, which provides an accurate liquidity indicator for the banking system and reduces the degree of ambiguity and uncertainty in banking liquidity. The payments system also provides sufficient information.” The flow of cash into the banking system, the clarity of the amounts of paid and accumulated amounts, and a statement of their actual balances at all times during the banking working day.

He pointed out, "In light of monetary systems that rely on direct cash payments, bank liquidity management policies surround themselves with additional hedges of disrupted liquidity in order to anticipate liquidity risks, which disrupts part of banking and credit operations in particular."

He stated, “As electronic payments increase as a behavior in daily dealings, the management of the cash mass and its flow in the banking system will be subject to the rule of clarity in cash management, and then directing bank credit towards profitable areas, which provides efficient use of the cash mass, in addition to reducing the percentage of cash leakages outside Banks will decline, which means that a structural change in the behavior of cash demand among individuals and banks will lead to a decline, due to dealing with electronic payment systems that are linked to bank accounts.”

Saleh added, “Thus, the development of the payments environment and its transition from the direct cash environment or cash payment in payment and receipt operations to the use of electronic payment will, in all circumstances, restrict all local cash payment in currencies (other than the dinar) and spare the economy and distance its transactions from cash payment in foreign currency, because systems Digital payments do not allow transactions in the local economy in anything other than the national currency.”   LINK

Experts: Electronic payment raises the value of the dinar

The first  11/27/2023  Baghdad: Hoda Al-Azzawi  Experts and specialists in financial and economic affairs believed that the electronic payment system would preserve the monetary supply of the Iraqi dinar and raise its value against the dollar in later stages.

The Prime Minister’s Advisor for Economic and Financial Affairs, Dr. Mazhar Muhammad Saleh, explained to “Al-Sabah” that “the cash payments system is linked to a high degree of certainty whenever payments are made by electronic or digital means, which provides an accurate liquidity indicator for the banking system and reduces the degree of ambiguity.” And the uncertainty in banking liquidity.

The payments system also provides sufficient information about the flow of the cash mass into the banking system, and the amounts of paid and accumulated amounts are clear and their actual balances are stated at all times during the banking working day.”

He pointed out that "in light of monetary systems that rely on direct cash payments, bank liquidity management policies surround themselves with additional hedges of disrupted liquidity in order to anticipate liquidity risks, which disrupts part of banking operations and credit in particular," explaining that "as payments increase...

Electronic behavior as a behavior in daily dealings, the management of the cash mass and its flow in the banking system will be subject to the rule of clarity in cash management, and then direct bank credit towards profitable areas, which will provide efficient use of the cash mass, in addition to that the percentage of cash leakages outside the banks will decrease, which means that A structural change in the behavior of cash demand among individuals and banks will trend toward decline, due to dealing with electronic payment systems that are linked to bank accounts.”

He added, “Thus, the development of the payments environment and its transition from a direct cash environment or cash payment in payment and receipt operations to the use of electronic payment will, in all circumstances, restrict all local cash payment in currencies (other than the dinar) and spare the economy and distance its transactions from cash payment in foreign currency, because systems Digital payments do not allow transactions in the local economy in anything other than the national currency,” he explained, explaining that “in Milan, the economy will move its transaction payments to the (digital dinar) instead of the (cash dollar), whose transactions in internal settlements are legally rejected completely.”

For his part, the head of the “Regional Center for Studies”, Ali Al-Sahib, indicated in an interview with “Al-Sabah” that “electronic collection or electronic payment is a step that the government adopted not long ago, but it has not been implemented yet, and the Iraqi citizen in general lacks a culture.” Electronic payment, even though most countries in the world, including neighboring countries, have been dealing with it for years.”

He explained, "Despite this, if this practice is applied in Iraq, it will have both negative and positive paths. As for the positive, it is the abolition of cash and the preservation of storage, as well as preventing the banknote from being damaged and possibly stolen or lost, as well as reducing cases of corruption in gas stations and elsewhere, not to mention waste." The time in the process of receiving the money, disbursing it, etc.

He added, “As for the negatives of the process - they lie in the citizen’s ignorance and unwillingness to deal - in addition to the fees for obtaining the card and other negatives.”

He added, "It is remarkable that Iraq consumes approximately (30) million liters of vehicle fuel daily. These are very large quantities and require government effort to spread the culture of public awareness to enter this new stage," indicating that "forcing the citizen to use electronic payment may confuse The daily scene and reality raises complaints and complaints from citizens, and the best solution is for the state to give the citizen the choice to follow one of the two methods until he gets used to electronic payment.”    https://alsabaah.iq/87963-.html

One Of Them Is Borne By The Government. A Parliamentarian Identifies Two Reasons For Delaying The Release Of The 2023 Budget

Information/private..  Today, Tuesday, Member of Parliament, Jassem Al-Atwani, identified the reasons for delaying the release of financial allocations for the 2023 budget, while holding the government responsible for one of the reasons.

Al-Atwani said, in an interview with the Maalouma Agency, that “the defect in delaying the disbursement of financial allocations for the 2023 budget is clear and is due to two main reasons, one of which is borne by the federal government.”

He added, "The government followed suit after approving the budget, as it began specifying instructions and controls, considering that budget instructions must accompany its launch, and this is what happened in previous financial budgets."

The member of the House of Representatives explained, “The other reason is related to the lack of financial abundance, especially since the budget depends primarily on financial revenues, given that the government does not depend on cash reserves, but rather on imports that can be obtained from oil sales and others.”

Al-Atwani stated, “There is a clear delay in the flow of these funds, which in one way or another caused the release of financial allocations for the 2023 budget.”

A member of the Parliamentary Economy and Investment Committee, MP Muhammad Al-Zayadi, had previously criticized the Ministry of Finance for obstructing the launch of investment financial allocations in the tripartite budget for the governorates, indicating that this was reflected negatively by obstructing the completion of projects.

The House of Representatives approved, on Monday, June 12, 2023, after long deliberations between the government and parliamentarians that extended for months, the financial budget law for the three years 2023, 2024, and 2025, as the budget approved more expenditures and investments as a direct result of the increase in oil revenues, which constitute 90% of the country’s revenues. LINK

Iraq Refuses To Establish Free Trade With Iran

2023-11-27 03:53    Shafaq News/ Iran's Special Trade Representative in Iraq, Farzad Belten, revealed on Monday an Iraqi refusal to establish free trade with the Iranian side.

Belten said in statements reported by Mehr News Agency that the trade capacity between Iran and Iraq amounts to 20 billion dollars, explaining that due to the large gap between exports and imports with Iraq, this country does not want to establish free trade.

Regarding the trade situation between Iran and Iraq, he explained that during the first six months of this year, about 4.5 billion dollars of goods were exported from Iran to Iraq, and about 150 million dollars of goods were imported to Iran from the aforementioned country.

Belten, the former Director General of West Asia for the Iranian Trade Development Organization, added that the trade capacity of the two countries confirms the possibility of increasing trade relations between the two countries, including the export of goods, services, electricity and gas, at about $20 billion.

Belten also said that there is a possibility of establishing free trade or preferential tariffs with Iraq, considering that trade between Iran and Iraq is one-way and mainly includes exports from Iran to Iraq.

He continued, despite various endeavors over the past years, the Iraqi government does not wish to negotiate and sign an agreement in any of the aforementioned areas.

He added, "For Belten, Iran's main competitors in Iraqi markets are China and Turkey."

The Iranian Special Trade Representative in Iraq stated, “There are problems related to trade infrastructure such as one-way transportation of goods, clearance of goods at border crossings, standards, etc., and if they are resolved, it will be possible to develop trade relations between the two countries.”   LINK

Provoking Points To Ponder on HOPE:

People crushed by laws, have no hope but to evade power. If the laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to the law; and those who have must to hope and nothing to lose will always be dangerous. Edmund Burke

You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for our own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful. -- Marie Curie

To hope means to be ready at every moment for that which is not yet born, and yet not become desperate if there is no birth in our lifetime.  -- Erich Fromm

If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance.  -- Orville Wright

You believe that easily which you hope for earnestly -- Edward Bulwer-Lytton

In all things it is better to hope than Despair – Goethe

You cannot put a great hope into a small soul -- J L Jones

The future is lighted for us with the radiant colours of hope. Strife and sorrow shall disappear. Peace and love shall reign supreme -- John Fiske

All the Saints of God are there to protect me, to sustain me and to carry me. And your prayers, my dear friends, your indulgence, your love, your faith and your hope accompany me. -- Pope Benedict XVI