Iraqi News Highlights Monday Evening 11-21-22
Iraqi News Highlights Monday Evening 11-21-22
Tlm724 Administrator Bondlady’s Corner
Why The Central Bank's Sales Of The Dollar Have Fallen Over The Past Days
Economy , 2022/11/21 09:42, number of readings: 93 Baghdad-Iraq today: The deputy of the state of Law coalition, Mohammed Al-Shammari, attributed the decrease in the central bank's sales of dollars at the currency auction to the new government's control over currency smuggling and money laundering.
Al-Shammari said in a press interview that "the decrease in the central bank's sales of dollars at the currency auction occurred after the control of all the money that was entering the smuggling and laundering box," stressing that "the Sudanese made a right start by standing up to all those who were making profits from the sale of hard currency in very high amounts, especially in the recent period.
He added that "the features of the product of the work of the new government began to appear through a number of files that were processed in the period following the previous caretaker government".
He pointed out that "there are many officials who have been dismissed or held accountable for all the files that were hacked in the caretaker government headed by Mustafa al-Kazemi".
Economist Abdul Rahman al-Mashhadani had said earlier that "private banks are the only beneficiaries of the sale of the central bank by smuggling hard currency out of Iraq.
Ibrahim al-sakini, a leader of the state of Law Coalition, had said earlier that
"the goal of the change in positions is not to repeat the mistakes and violations that occurred in the previous caretaker government," pointing out that
"state institutions, departments and ministries need a revolution in changing positions at the level of their senior positions. https://iraqtoday.com/news/67657/لماذا-انخفضت-مبيعات-البنك-المركزي-من-الدولار-خلال-الأيام-الماضية-
Experts: Iraq Loses 2.5 Billion Dollars A Month Due To Holidays
Economy , 2022/11/20 18:02, number of readings: 387 Baghdad-Iraq today: The network of field Advisers estimated on Sunday that Iraq is losing about 2.5 billion dollars a month due to official holidays.
"Iraq is at the forefront of the countries that disrupt the official working hours of the private and public sectors on various national and religious occasions for various reasons," said Al-Shabaka member Qahtan Al-Hassu, noting that "these holidays are causing a clear depression on the one hand,
and a significant decline in the educational level on the other,
not to mention the delay of several important projects in reconstruction and development. Al-Hassu added that "some countries such as Sweden give nine days a year, while in Germany it is between 10 and 13 days depending on the state, and in Spain 14 days, while Jordan is off 15 days, and Egypt 16 days a year," pointing out that "Iraqi events add sudden holidays often imposed by security, political or religious situations.
He pointed out that "economists estimated the losses of a vacation for an entire month by more than two and a half billion dollars, if the employee's salary rate is calculated at least 500 dollars per month depending on the number of employees in Iraq, 5 million employees in various sectors of the state, according to the readings of some competent research institutions.
He explained that "the abundance of official and unofficial religious holidays and events affects not only the economy, but affects all life facilities, especially study and scientific sobriety,
"assuming 52 weeks a year," including two days of each week off, so the total holidays on Fridays and Saturdays are 104 days a year, in addition to 18 official events, equivalent to 36 days off a year, counting the dropout of employees and students a day before or after the holiday. Al-Hasu pointed out that
"there is a system followed by Iraqis (between the two holidays) that is within the 18 days, and on this basis we are talking about more than (176) days off, knowing that they are holidays that do not include personal permits for illness, travel or childbirth, and apart from the days of religious events and others known as consensual, as the government declares the Eid holiday a full week to align with the two communities and their vision of the Crescent".
https://iraqtoday.com/news/67646/خبراء-العراق-يخسر-25-مليار-دولار-شهريا-بسبب-العطل
Al Rasheed Bank Announces The Launch Of The Electronic Insured Documents System
Sunday, 20 November 2022 2: 17 pm Baghdad/ National News Center Al Rasheed bank announced on Sunday the start of the electronic insured documents system, the national project to cancel the validity of issuance transactions.
The bank's flags stated that “this came based on the directives of the general secretariat of the Council of ministers / data center, “indicating that
”this project eliminates all manual issuance validity and is electronic through an electronic system between the bank and all departments, and this measure will reduce red tape and shorten the time for the citizen in all banking transactions. https://nnciraq.com/166251/
She was transported by armored vehicles.. New details on the "theft of the century" and a British report hinting at the involvement of "Iraqi factions"
Reports and analytics Central Bank of Iraq Theft of the century 2022-11-19 18:14
Shafaq News / the British Financial Times newspaper published an article by the writer ريا Chalabi in which she talked about the fate and developments of the case of the theft of 2.5 billion dollars in Iraq, and the investigations into the incident, which is the largest of its kind to be announced in the country, while hinting at the involvement of "Iraqi factions" in the theft.
According to the Ministry of Finance,
armored vehicles carrying 2.5 billion dollars belonging to the Iraqi tax authority disappeared between September 2021 and August 2022, a scandal that has sparked widespread controversy within the corridors of power since its discovery last month.
She adds that trucks loaded with tax money left the state-owned Rafidain Bank and took their usual route to disappear in broad daylight in what is known in Iraq as the "theft of the century".
He had unveiled the merits of this scandal days before the swearing-in of the government of the new prime minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani, and pledged to give priority to the fight against corruption that spread in all parts of the state and its institutions, as the Sudanese launched a public purge of aides to former prime minister Mustafa al-kadhimi, according to the author.
Sudanese responsibility
Al-Sudani, who appears to be an independent politician and enjoys the support of some factions allegedly involved in the scandal, may have difficulty holding senior members of the political establishment accountable, noting that
"the responsibility for this scandal lies with those at the top of the hierarchy of power, and many high - level players are involved, including current and former ministers, civil servants and businessmen".
It said "rampant corruption" in Iraq had eroded state institutions endorsed by the political class that has ruled the country since the overthrow of late President Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Instead of promoting power-sharing, the author adds,
"the sectarian Iraqi system has contributed to the establishment of a quota system between factions competing for senior government positions and feeding patronage within ministries".
Involvement of influential parties
Some sources claim - according to the article-that this latest fraudulent scheme involves many powerful and dissonant political factions, especially those who agreed on the appointment of al-Sudani,
while the new government is dominated by political blocs linked to Iran known as the "coordination framework", which disagreed with loyalists of rival Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on the formation of the government.
The author, in the course of her article, emphasizes that 5 people familiar with the investigation noted that the latest scandal casts doubt on both sides that have been fighting for power for a long time.
Theft detection
The scandal of embezzlement of 2.5 billion dollars - in which the Tax Authority, the central bank and the
Ministry of finance are suspected to be involved-
came to light when "Finance" revealed the result of an internal investigation that showed that from September 2021 to August 2022 about 250 checks were organized for 5 companies, and
then the funds deposited in the escrow account intended to cover annual liabilities were withdrawn to accounts controlled by the tax authority at Rafidain State Bank.
In a public statement after the disclosure of the embezzlement, former finance minister Ali Allawi-who resigned from the kadhimi government in August 2022 - stated that he informed Kazemi's office about the scheme in November 2021, and ordered to stop payments from the accounts without his consent,
but the payments continued, according to Allawi, at a time when an adviser to the former prime minister said that Kazemi's office had not received "official correspondence" from Allawi about the embezzlement.
According to the Ministry of finance, the companies in question claimed to be working for larger companies, including many international oil companies, but according to 4 people familiar with the investigation, 3 companies had been founded just one month before the embezzlement was carried out, according to the author.
The Ministry of Finance had revealed that 3.7 trillion Iraqi dinars (2.5 billion dollars) had been withdrawn from the accounts of Rafidain Bank, which is equivalent to 2.81% of the country's budget for 2021, and then some of these funds were used to buy dollars from the Central Bank of Iraq.
Suspicions
The author, speaking about the suspicions surrounding the embezzlement process, confirmed in her report that according to 3 people familiar with the Iraqi banking sector,
it is certain that the central bank and the Rafidain Bank are aware of the operation, as the
slight increase in dollars purchased at the auction was higher than usual, as well as the amounts withdrawn were very large،
The same sources explained that "the amount of money transported daily in Baghdad required armored trucks, and this indicates the involvement of the security services".
She added that the judiciary issued a travel ban against 9 suspects, including 5 high-ranking civil servants at the tax authority and the Ministry of Finance and company managers, and
one of them, Nour Zuhair Jassim, was arrested at the tarmac of Baghdad International Airport while trying to leave the capital on a private plane.
The article continued that - according to the same sources familiar with the investigation-
Jassim is the main suspect, and that the judiciary is investigating his relationship with kadhimi's aides, the Sadrists and the leaders of the coordination framework,
including former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki and the leader of the "Fatah" Alliance Hadi al-Amiri, and
the judiciary summoned one of kadhimi's advisers for questioning.
Settling accounts
While analysts doubt that the investigation is being used as a tool to settle scores, Renad Mansour, director of the Iraq initiative Project at Chatham House, confirms that
"the corrupt and the powerful succeed in using their power to target the weaker groups,
anti-corruption mechanisms are often used as a tool for political liquidation".
Analysts emphasize that in a system where corruption reigns and special interests dominate, the investigation is likely to be disrupted.
"It is expected that some heads will fly out of the banks, and then the issue will be quietly forgotten,
most likely this is what the political elite is planning, which seems to have returned to its old practices," said Sajjad giad, a fellow resident of the Century Center.
The article concluded that many of the competing political factions in Iraq that are suspected of involvement in this embezzlement, which was described as "great", have shown their willingness to ally with each other for financial gain, which Mansour comments
"This confirms that corruption is rooted in the Iraqi political system".
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