Iraqi News Tuesday AM 3-2-21
Iraqi News Tuesday AM 3-2-21
TLM724 Administrator BondLady’s Corner
Al-Kazemi Announces A Rise In Cash Reserves By 4 Billion Dollars
Editing date: 3/2/2021 16:36 • 56 read times [Baghdad-Where] The Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, announced, on Tuesday, an increase in cash reserves, by 4 billion dollars.
Al-Kazemi said, during the cabinet session, that "there is a veneration of the cash reserves, which increased by four billion dollars after accusations that the current government would cause the reserve to bankrupt."
He added, "Likewise, the notorious currency auction has been curbed and has become a thing of the past." http://www.alliraqnews.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=107017
The Results Of The Foreign Currency Sale Window For Tuesday 3/2/2021, And Executed Today
March 02, 2021 Advertisement No. (4368) Sale date - Tuesday 3/2/2021, and executed today the details Amount
Total sale for purposes of enhancing funds abroad (transfers, credits) 125,321,939
Total cash sale 0 Total total sales 125,321,939
Note that: The sale price of the sums transferred to bank accounts abroad is ( 1460 ) dinars per dollar.
The cash sale price is ( 1460 ) dinars per dollar.
» The Central Bank of Iraq’s foreign currency sales schedule, Tuesday, 3/2/2021, and executed today
https://cbi.iq/currency_auction
Saleh: Proposals To Establish A Sovereign Wealth Fund
Money and business Economy News _ Baghdad The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, revealed, on Tuesday, positive proposals to establish a sovereign wealth fund in which funds equivalent to the current compensation for the Kuwait war would be deposited, in line with the reform white paper.
"We have positive ideas and proposals to establish an Iraqi sovereign wealth fund, in which sums equivalent to the compensation for the Kuwait war are deposited after the payment of these compensation is completed in the coming months, and it is managed similarly to the generational funds," Saleh said in an interview with Al-Sabah newspaper, followed by Al-Iktissad News
"A sovereign investment resource for Iraq, in line with the white paper launched by the government to strengthen and reform the structure of the Iraqi economy."
Saleh explained, "There is nothing left of the Kuwait war compensation, but an amount that may be less than 2.5 billion dollars out of 52 billion dollars until the moment, as 3% of the proceeds are still deducted from every barrel of Iraqi crude oil that is exported, through a mechanism and a bank account that the bank takes over."
The Federal Reserve in New York, according to a subsequent Security Council Resolution No. 1483 in May 2003, "and indicated that" the deductions are currently paid through the United Nations Compensation Fund "UNCC", expecting that "all the remaining compensation will end within a year or a little more," According to the development of oil prices and the proceeds of a barrel of Iraqi oil.
It is noteworthy that the United Nations Compensation Committee was formed in 1991, the same year in which the US-led coalition removed Iraqi forces from Kuwait, and mandated the committee to pay $52.4 billion (46.8 billion euros) to Kuwaiti individuals, companies, government agencies and other organizations that suffered losses.
Because of the Saddam regime's invasion of Kuwait, the compensation money comes from a tax levied on sales of Iraqi oil and its products. https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=24282
Increase In Financial Revenues From The Sale Of Oil To 5 Billion Dollars Last Month
Energy Economy News _ Baghdad The Ministry of Oil announced, on Tuesday, the preliminary statistics of the exported quantities of crude oil and the revenues generated for the month of February.
The ministry said, in a statement that Al-Eqtisad News received a copy of, that “the amount of exports of crude oil is (82) million (877) thousand and (757) barrels, with revenues of (5) billion and (26) thousand and (807) dollars. .
The statistic indicated that “the total exported quantities of crude oil for the month of February from the oil fields in central and southern Iraq amounted to 79 million and 105 thousand and 329 barrels. As for the Kirkuk fields through the port of Ceyhan, the exported quantities reached (3) One million and (772) thousand and (428) barrels.
The average daily exports "(2) million and (960) thousand barrels, while the average price per barrel was (60,330) dollars." Number of observations 120 Date of addendum 02/03/2021
https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=24287
Parliamentary Work: To Vote On The Private Sector Retirement Law Soon
Money and business Economy News _ Baghdad The House of Representatives is close to voting on the retirement and social security law for the private sector after it fulfills the required amendment, while the Labor, Social Affairs, Immigration and Displacement Committee confirmed that the new law will provide a stable life for workers.
The deputy head of the committee, Hussein Arab, said in an interview with Al-Sabah newspaper, which was followed by Al-Eqtisad News, that "the new law will provide decent living for private sector workers, and there are efforts to include the largest number of them in the law to be under the umbrella of social security," stressing that "the first reading of the law has been completed." And strive to legislate it soon because it will serve the interest of the working class. "
And Arab, "The law will provide psychological and material stability for workers and retirees, as well as provide protection and stability for working women," noting that "it includes in one of its articles health insurance and social services for the insured worker for what he is exposed to during his work in terms of occupational injuries." The committee studies the law in all its aspects. "
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, for its part, held an expanded meeting with the International Labor Organization via closed-circuit television and discussed the amendments to the aforementioned law, according to what the director of the Retirement and Social Security Department said in her, Khouloud Hayran.
She indicated that "the meeting also discussed the legal paragraphs of the new law and their compatibility with international labor conventions and the sustainability of the guarantee fund to fulfill its obligations towards insured workers."
Hayran explained, "The law has fulfilled the requirements for amendment according to the ministry’s plan that is in the interest of the working class," expressing hope that "it will be voted on during the next few years." Number of observations: 174 Date of addendum 02/03/2021
https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=24283
International Monetary Fund To "Al-Sabah": Iraq Is Capable Of Achieving Comprehensive Development
Tuesday 02nd March 2021 90 Baghdad: Hussein Thahab The International Monetary Fund described the government's directions to reform the national economy as the task, and stressed that Iraq is able to achieve comprehensive development, provided that medium and long strategic plans are prepared.
This came during a press interview for "Al-Sabah" with the representative of the International Monetary Fund in Iraq, Dr. Gazi Spikat:
* How does the International Monetary Fund view the Iraqi economy and how is it affected by the Corona pandemic?
There is a significant decline in state resources, which barely covered the salary and retirement bill in the first months of 2020. There was a decline in economic activity by 8 percent in the non-oil sector, while the oil sector declined by 11 percent due to production cuts in compliance with the OPEC + agreement. .
The budget deficit increased to 20 percent and the external sector deficit increased to 15 percent of GDP. Financing these deficits significantly increased the debt ratio and decreased foreign exchange reserves.
* What are the best methods of achieving the economic advancement of Iraq?
- The Iraqi economy should not continue to depend on oil as the only source of public financial revenues and the balance of payments, and here we stress the importance of diversifying the Iraqi economy and paying attention to production and clearing the way for the private sector, to take the initiative in leading the economy towards exports and achieving economic growth.
Prudent policies and strategies in the fields of education, health, communications, and technology, for example, in addition to that, the social protection network needs to be strengthened to protect the most vulnerable, and in order for the government to carry out its developmental tasks, financial space must be created, and this requires controlling operational expenditures, Especially the salary and retirement bill, through reforms in the civil service system and the pension system, as well as reforms in the electricity sector, which constitutes a great burden on the state's resources.
* What are the most important ways to overcome the trend towards borrowing?
There is local and external borrowing. It is natural for countries to borrow locally and / or externally to finance some projects, but the important thing is to take into account the ability to pay in terms of the size of borrowing, its costs and its importance to the economy, so it is not permissible for the state to borrow to finance salaries and consumption expenditures.
Its public finances and its ability to pay off its external obligations, and to overcome borrowing, it is imperative to reduce public financial deficits and to exploit the oil market recovery periods to build oil surpluses that can be used in times of declining prices, and this avoids borrowing and at the same time reduces the economic fluctuations that prevailed in Iraq as a result of linking Government spending at oil prices. Oil exporters also tend to provide oil revenues for future generations, in addition to providing basic needs (most oil exporters have sovereign wealth funds).
* How does the fund view the government's actions to devalue the currency?
- The International Monetary Fund supports the devaluation of the Iraqi dinar, because it helps reduce external imbalances, preserves foreign reserves and strengthens public finances, as reducing the value of the dinar helps reduce the budget deficit and improves the trade balance by stimulating exports and restraining imports, and also helps to maintain a comfortable level of reserves
Moreover, the reduction has reform effects on the labor market by affecting real incomes and stimulating the private sector, to take the initiative in directing the wheel of the economy.
Of course, the reduction in the exchange rate has social consequences that require mitigating them as much as possible. It is certain that reducing the value of the dinar will result in an increase in the general level of prices, especially since imports in the consumer basket in Iraq constitute a high percentage, and here we stress the need to increase allocations to the social safety net and expand A database of the beneficiaries to ensure its adequate coverage and protection of the groups whose purchasing power has been affected by the reduction.
* What does Article 4 mean, and are there details about its content?
Article 4 consultations are consultations and discussions on economic conditions and policy priorities that the fund conducts periodically (usually annually) with member states, and it is a requirement of Article 4 of the IMF agreement that member states must abide by.
Accordingly, a team of IMF economists visits the member country to assess the economic and financial developments and discuss the economic and financial policies of the governments and central banks of the state, and the consultations mostly include meetings of parliamentarians, businessmen, trade unions and unions and civil society institutions, and the Fund conducted the last of these consultations at the end of 2020 and approved The Fund's Board of Directors, the experts' report in February of this year, and the report can be viewed through the link https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/IRQ.
* From the fund’s point of view to Iraq, is there a possibility of advancing industrial and agricultural production, and what is the fund advising?
There is always an opportunity for advancement in any country, provided that the public finances are controlled and that prudent macroeconomic policies are followed that reduce waste, imbalance and mismanagement so that the private sector and small and medium enterprises can play their role.
The industrial and agricultural sectors in Iraq are among the vital sectors that must be given great importance and motivated by modern legislation, and to provide support and financing for them to enable them to play their role in production, export and employment. Among other things, this requires improving the investment environment, strengthening the financial sector, providing adequate financing, enhancing infrastructure and accessing basic services such as electricity.
* Is there an Iraqi perspective to achieve comprehensive development?
Comprehensive development is a broad word that includes several medium and long-term strategies, and Iraq can achieve this in the long term by implementing reforms in public finances and strengthening them, as well as diversifying the economy and not relying on oil as the only source of revenue, and of course this requires reform policies and strategies in several In areas, including health, education, social protection, financial and banking sector, technology, communications, infrastructure, logistics and others, in addition to modernizing economic legislation, in order to attract foreign investment and contribute to the transfer of technology to Iraq, and there is no doubt that reforms take time, and their implementation does not It is done appropriately at times. Nevertheless, it is of utmost importance to continue to make gradual improvements, so that citizens feel the positive effects of the reforms, thus helping to accept them. LINK
The Market Index Is Declining In The Session On Tuesday
Iraq Stock Exchange Market Economy News – Baghdad The index of the Iraq Stock Exchange, on Tuesday, decreased by 0.17%.
The session witnessed the circulation of 3.2 billion shares worth 1.8 billion dinars.
Al-Khair Financial Investment Company topped the winning companies with a rate of 11.11%, followed by the Metal and Bicycles Company with a rate of 9.93%.
While Khazer Road Construction topped the losing companies by 15.84%, followed by the Credit Bank Company by 10.20%.
In turn, foreign investors sold 26 million shares, worth 44 million dinars, after executing 32 deals on the shares of four companies. Number of observations 96 Date of addendum 02/03/2021
https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=24297
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