Iraqi News Highlights and Points to Ponder Saturday Afternoon 11-4-23

“The Dinar Is Stronger Than The Dollar.” The Hypothesis That Is Absent From Reality!

Special Sumerian  2023-11-04 | 2,091 views  Everything has become high because of the dollar, a dangerous trade recession that the country is experiencing, amid warnings of an economic slide that may worsen the situation in the coming days.

According to experts, traders affiliated with influential parties and entities are the only beneficiaries of the platform affiliated with the Central Bank, and the government must come out immediately and be honest with the people about the truth of what is happening.

By simple calculation, the Central Bank sells an estimated two hundred thousand dollars daily, meaning that the daily profits of speculators are estimated at forty thousand dollars, reaching their total monthly. One million two hundred thousand dollars, which is equivalent to about two billion Iraqi dinars net for speculators per month.   LINK

The Dollar Opens Higher In Baghdad Markets And Money Exchangers... 163 Thousand For Every 100 Dollars

Economy |Baghdad today - Baghdad   Today, Saturday (November 4, 2023), the dollar exchange rates recorded a noticeable increase against the Iraqi dinar in the markets and exchange offices of the capital, Baghdad.

Market and exchange transactions in Baghdad witnessed the recording of 163 thousand Iraqi dinars for every 100 US dollars for sale, while purchase prices recorded 162 thousand Iraqi dinars for every 100 US dollars.

Last Thursday (November 2, 2023), the US dollar exchange rates recorded 162,250 dinars for 100 dollars for sale, in the markets and exchange offices of the capital, Baghdad.    LINK

The Dollar In Iraq Is Flying Due To Political Corruption And Security Escalation

November 4, 2023   Baghdad/Al-Masala Al-Hadath: The price of the dollar is rising in Iraq, and the purchase price has reached more than 161 dinars for every 100 dollars.

For more than 8 months, and specifically since the Central Bank began operating the electronic platform and the international financial transfer system “SWIFT,” the dollar exchange rates in Iraq have not witnessed stability despite the attempts of the government and the Central Bank to control the exchange rate in the parallel (black) markets.

The Central Bank of Iraq decided earlier to adjust the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar, as the price of buying the dollar from the Ministry of Finance reached 1,300 dinars per dollar and selling it at (1,310) dinars per dollar to banks through the electronic platform, and it is sold for (1,320) dinars per dollar. Dollars from banks and non-banking financial institutions to the final beneficiary.

The security escalation in Iraq is one of the most important political reasons behind the rise in the price of the dollar in the country. Since the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, the country has witnessed ongoing political and security conflicts, which led to the deterioration of the Iraqi economy and the decline in the value of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar.

This year, threats between armed factions and American forces in Iraq led to the instability of the dollar exchange rate.

Political corruption is another reason that leads to the rise in the price of the dollar in Iraq. Political corruption in Iraq hinders economic development and leads to the leakage of money from the country, which weakens the value of the Iraqi dinar.

The weakness of government institutions is also one of the reasons leading to the rise in the price of the dollar in Iraq. Iraqi government institutions are weak and ineffective, which makes it difficult for the government to control the market and adjust the currency exchange rate.

The Iraqi economy depends heavily on oil, as oil represents about 90% of the country's exports. High oil prices lead to an increase in Iraqi oil revenues, which strengthens the value of the Iraqi dinar, while low oil prices lead to a decrease in Iraqi oil revenues, which weakens the value of the Iraqi dinar.

High inflation is one of the reasons that leads to an increase in the price of the dollar in Iraq. High inflation leads to an increase in demand for the dollar, which raises its value against the Iraqi dinar.

The demand for the dollar is one of the main reasons that leads to an increase in its price, as the dollar is the global reserve currency and is used in international trade and foreign investments, and increasing demand for the dollar leads to an increase in its value against other currencies.

 https://almasalah.com/archives/71975

Iraq's Imports Decreased By 25%.. Iranian Goods Finance Themselves With The "High Dollar" And Lose Competitiveness In Iraq - Urgent

Economy |Baghdad today – Baghdad  Iranian trade with Iraq is facing many difficulties, the most important of which is financing and the possibility of obtaining the dollar, especially with the implementation of the platform in the Central Bank of Iraq, which prevents financing trade and sending money to Iran for the purpose of importing.

This led to merchants importing from Iran rushing to buy the dollar from the parallel market and bearing an additional cost as a result of the rise in prices there. Amid these many difficulties, Iranian exports to Iraq are expected to decline during the current year.

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The difficulty of financing is not the main reason that Iranian trade with Iraq may incur many losses, but rather the fact that merchants buy the dollar at exorbitant prices from the parallel market, with a difference of more than 20% higher than the dollar at the official price obtained by merchants who import goods from other countries. It is permissible to send the dollar. In addition, it will make Iranian goods more expensive than their counterparts of goods coming from other countries, which will make Iranian goods lose competitiveness.

The economic expert, Nabil Al-Marsoumi, said in an explanation followed by “Baghdad Today”, that “one of the results of the electronic platform that the US Federal Bank obligated Iraq to operate was that it almost stopped financing Iraq’s imports from Iran using bank transfers, and therefore it was necessary to resort to the parallel market to purchase The dollar was transferred to Iranian merchants, which was one of the important reasons for the rise in the parallel price of the dollar against the dinar.”

He adds, "The former Secretary General of the Iraqi-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Hamid Al-Husseini, says that the main problem in exporting Iranian products to Iraq is the currency exchange rate for Iranian merchants, which amounted to more than 22%, as the dollar is equivalent to 1,620 dinars for an Iranian merchant, while the number drops to 1,320." One dinar per dollar for exporters from other countries.”

Al-Husseini believes that "this difference has become large because any number exceeding 1,600 dinars to the dollar will make things more difficult and will reduce the competitiveness of Iranian goods in the Iraqi market."

Iraq's imports from Iran annually amount to approximately 10 billion dollars, which is equivalent to 16% of Iraq's total annual imports, amounting to 60 billion dollars annually.

“Baghdad Today” tracked global trade data, according to the Trading Economics website, and found that Iraq imported $16.8 billion during the first half of this year, compared to the same period last year in which Iraq’s imports amounted to about $23 billion. This means that Iraq's imports decreased this year by 25%, which shows the extent of the impact of control over the dollar and external transfer on the course of Iraqi trade this year.   LINK

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Biden Allocates $653 Million To American Port Development Projects

Arab and international  Economy News - follow-up  The US Department of Transportation provided $653 million in grants to develop and improve forty-one seaports throughout the United States .

The grants are part of a trillion-dollar infrastructure investment included in a bipartisan law signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 .

Biden administration officials said that the projects that receive support will allow ports to meet larger shipping demands, in addition to reducing costs for consumers and improving worker safety conditions .

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said during a phone call with reporters that supply chain challenges, starting in 2021, have led to higher prices as the United States recovers from the Corona epidemic .

Buttigieg added that the goal of the projects is to improve port infrastructure so that it can withstand the types of shocks that the United States witnessed during the pandemic .

He said: “Our goal is to strengthen these supply chains in a sustainable way. Today’s announcement is another big step in this direction .”

The grants included $43.4 million to renovate a pier in Cold Bay, Alaska .

The Port of Long Beach in California will receive $52.6 million for various developments, including an extension of the rail network to help transport freight .

Thirty-two million dollars will be allocated to the Port of Newark, New Jersey, to rebuild the dock .

Views 32    Added 11/04/2023 - 4:45 PM   https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=37239

Provoking Points to Ponder on HOPE:

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