KTFA:

Clare:  Deputy regarding the exemption of the governor of the Central Bank: The dollar will fall and the authoritarian claws of corruption will be removed

01/23/2023

Representative Mahmoud Al-Qaisi considered, on Monday, the decision to dismiss the governor of the Central Bank, as it will remove the tentacles of corruption that are controlling the bank.

Al-Qaisi said in a tweet on Twitter, followed by Mawazine News: "We urge the prime minister to take deterrent measures against the corrupt, who want to exhaust the Iraqi economy."

He added, "The dismissal of the governor of the central bank will remove the tentacles of corruption that dominate the central bank, and will contribute to reviving the Iraqi dinar."
And he concluded his tweet by saying: “The dollar will drop.”  LINK

Henig:  Finance Minister: Iraq possesses the requirements of a strong economy

MONDAY, 01-23-2023, PM 9:20

Today, Monday, the Minister of Finance, Taif Sami, confirmed the endeavor to activate bilateral agreements between Iraq and various international financial institutions that support the establishment of a balanced and sustainable financial and economic system.

This came, during the Minister of Finance’s chairmanship of an expanded meeting to follow up on the paragraphs of implementing the ministerial program submitted by the government program team in the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, and in the presence of the Undersecretary and the general managers therein, according to a statement by the Ministry and received by the Noon news agency.

According to the statement, the meeting witnessed a discussion of "the objectives of the quarterly financial plan for the year 2023, and the basic clauses that involve developing the economy and controlling cash flows and services in various sectors, in order to achieve the basic goals included in the ministerial curriculum in the financial and economic aspects."

The meeting continued, studying the most important requirements for implementing the government program according to the vision for the years (2023-2025), which are related to investment plans, spending doors, maximizing the revenue side outside the oil sector, and other visions consistent with the criteria for the advancement of the national economy.

Sami said, according to the statement, that "Iraq possesses the requirements of a strong economy, and that the Ministry of Finance is moving steadily towards an optimal implementation of economic goals during the next stage, embodied in enhancing opportunities to attract investment, advancing infrastructure projects, and correcting the course of fiscal policy in light of the current economic challenges, as well as Activating bilateral agreements between Iraq and various international financial institutions that support the consolidation of a balanced and sustainable financial and economic system.

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Zeeman:  the best thing iraq can do is to depeg  fully from usd also stop the petro dollar and get back all the money the ust is holding imo

Henig:  Deputy: 3 difficult American conditions for Iraq will delay the reduction of the dollar

 Baghdad today-Baghdad

A member of the Parliamentary Defense Committee, Waad Qaddo, spoke today, Monday, about 3 American conditions for sitting at the dialogue table with the Iraqi government regarding the dollar.

Qaddo told (Baghdad Today), "The Americans are calling for the development of a new agreement that defines the tasks of the soldiers of the international coalition and enhances their legality in being on our lands as one of the most important conditions through which it is possible to start a dialogue with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammad Shia'a al-Sudani, about the dollar."

Qaddo added, "The Americans also stipulate dialogue on the Iranian file and the file of the resistance factions before sitting at the dialogue table," considering that "Iraq is not a nominal occupation, but our economy is restricted and it is difficult for the Iraqi negotiator to return the dollar to its normal price and stop its rise quickly."

And he added: "Important steps taken by the Sudanese Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia'a, and other decisions he will take to punish some banks to stop any further rise in the dollar." LINK

Henig:  IMO: Oh, most DEFINITELY trying to interfere now. Will be unsuccessful, but still at it.

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Henig:  The fluctuation of the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar overthrows the governor of the central bank

January 23, 2023

Baghdad - time

On Monday, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia'a al-Sudani, dismissed the governor of the Central Bank from his position, "based on the His request, ”Al-Sudani announced in a press conference, at a time when the exchange rates of the Iraqi dinar are witnessing Against the dollar, unprecedented volatility.

Never before has an Iraqi official in a sovereign position voluntarily relinquished his position.

About two months ago, the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar continues to decline, while the official fixed exchange rate is 1470 dinars against one dollar, the exchange rate in the market reached 1620 on Sunday, according to the official news agency, That is, the Iraqi currency lost about 10 % of its value.

On Monday, the leader in the coordination framework, Jamal Hassan, revealed that the Prime Minister had issued direct directives to activate the most important Economic adjustment tools, to control the rise in the price of the dollar.

Hassan said in an interview with the local information site, "The recent dollar crisis gave a clear picture of the danger Speculation and the existence of whales seeking to create chaos in the national economy through manipulation of exchange rates to achieve Profits and pushing prices up without caring about the seriousness of what is happening to the lives of millions.

He added, "The Prime Minister issued direct directives to activate the economic security system and its detachments move immediately from In order to contain speculation and carry out arrests against those who monopolize the dollar and push its exchange rates up,” he pointed out That «this step will be circulated to the rest of the Iraqi provinces». And he considered that «activating the economic security system is a decision that is the first of its kind after 2003

Experts attribute the decline in the exchange rate to Iraq's start to comply with international rules in money transfers, which affected supply The dollar is in the market, while Washington politicians are responsible for this decline.

In light of this decline in the Iraqi currency, Al-Sudani announced during a press conference on Monday, “A request has been approved President of the Central Bank exemption and President of the Commercial Bank of Iraq for retirement referral ».

He added, “Managements known for their experience, ability and integrity, and their vision, have been assigned to confront this problem with measures Quick will have a clear impact on exchange rates ».

Also, the official news agency reported, quoting a government source, that Al-Sudani “ decided to relieve the governor of the Central Bank, Mustafa Ghaleb Mukherif was removed from his position at his request.” And “Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq was assigned to manage the Central Bank By proxy.”

And Sudanese referred the director of the Iraqi Trade Bank, Salem Jawad Al-Jalabi, to retirement, and “assigned Bilal Al-Hamdani to run the bank.” In addition to his duties, ”according to the official news agency.

The fluctuation of the dinar is linked to the start of Iraq's compliance with some of the standards of the international transfer system (Swift). Iraqi banks have applied it since mid-November to access Iraq's dollar reserves in the states United.

Iraqi banks must now record “their transfers (in dollars) on an electronic platform, check the requests … and the reserve is established.” The Federal Reserve examines it, and if it has doubts, it will stop the transfer,” said the advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister For financial affairs, the appearance of Saleh told AFP.

And the Federal Reserve has refused, since the implementation of the restrictions, “80 % of requests” for financial transfers to Iraqi banks According to Saleh, due to doubts about the final destination of those funds being transferred, he said.

In the meantime, the Iraqi authorities have taken measures, including facilitating the financing of private sector trade in dollars through banks In Iraq, opening outlets for selling foreign currency in government banks to the public for travel purposes.

On Sunday, Al-Sudani decided to take a number of additional measures to limit the decline in the exchange rate, including “opening.” A new window for selling foreign currency to small merchants through the Trade Bank of Iraq” and “Central Bank financing of the bank Iraqi Trade ( TBI ) with an additional amount of 500 million US dollars for the purpose of opening letters of credit for small traders And being satisfied with the initial invoice and the account number of the last beneficiary of the credit.

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Henig:  Economists: the Iraqi dinar crisis may push the Central Bank to issue new money

 Baghdad today - follow-up

Today, the Iraqi government is facing fears of its inability to provide the salaries of employees, retirees, and social welfare subscribers, who number about 10 million people, for whom about six trillion Iraqi dinars are allocated.

Today, Tuesday, the newspaper (The Independent Arabic) wrote a report followed by (Baghdad Today), in which it said that “the restrictions imposed by the US Federal Bank on the Central Bank of Iraq in the dollar file, and the start of introducing the Iraqi financial transfer within the “Swift” system, caused a series of crises. It led to a contraction of the Iraqi market and a decline in the purchasing power of most Iraqis during the past weeks.

She added, "The Iraqi economy depends almost entirely on Iraqi oil sales in US dollars, which are transferred through the Iraqi Ministry of Finance to the Central Bank, which sells them to banks to obtain the Iraqi dinar."

The report said, "In the absence of any other resource other than oil to bring in the dollar in conjunction with the absence of real economic activity or other revenues for the Iraqi government from taxes, fees and investments, obtaining the Iraqi dinar will become very difficult, and Baghdad may be forced to use alternatives, which will cause an increase." inflation rates in the country.

He explained, "Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, successive Iraqi governments, under pressure from the parties participating in the political process, opened the door wide for appointments in Iraqi state departments as an important part of their campaign for elections, which raised the number of workers in the public sector from 850,000." 2003 to four million employees, workers, wage earners, and contractors who earn about 43 trillion Iraqi dinars ($29 billion) annually, in addition to millions of retirees and those covered by social care, bringing the number to about 10 million people, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Planning.

And financial expert Muhammad Dagher believes that "the Central Bank of Iraq will resort to issuing new money from the dinar to meet its needs of paying employee salaries, if its sales continue in this way," while noting that "the central bank currently has enough local currency."

Dagher said, "The issue of salaries is a red line that cannot be touched, and if we do not get Iraqi dinars through the dollar sale window, the Central Bank of Iraq must issue new money."

Dagher ruled out that salaries would be distributed in US dollars instead of dinars if an Iraqi dinar was not available at the Central Bank, due to national and other economic considerations represented in the possibility of price increases.

He stressed that "the central bank has a reserve of local currency and can maneuver it and meet the needs."

The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed that the Central Bank of Iraq has temporary alternative procedures for absorbing liquidity, which are in the study phase and awaiting implementation, but he did not disclose these procedures.

And the specialist in economic affairs, Safwan Qusay, said, "Iraq suffers from a deficit of four trillion dinars per month as a result of the decline in dollar sales, while he referred to a set of solutions to bridge the deficit, including the issuance of bonds in Iraqi dinars."

Qusai said, "The currency selling window decreased at a rate of 130 million dollars per day, by about 200 billion dinars, which will lead to a decrease in the possibility of obtaining the Iraqi dinar to meet the requirements of the operational and investment budget." 

Qusay added, "The US federal wants to improve the economic situation of the Iraqis and create job opportunities. The more we raise the level of investment spending with international companies, the more we will get a dollar and convert it into Iraqi dinars to spend on these projects."

And Qusay indicated that the amount of the monthly deficit amounts to 2.5 billion dollars, that is, about four trillion Iraqi dinars, and therefore we need 50 trillion dinars annually, up to ($ 34 billion), stressing that what is now available to the Iraqi ministries and the Central Bank is less than this number, which will mean that the government You will be in trouble for the next six months.

He pointed out that there are more than 70 trillion dinars (47 billion dollars) with the Iraqis, and it is possible to withdraw part of it to fulfill the obligations by selling the state’s lands and properties in Iraqi dinars, and issuing dinar bonds, which contributes to absorbing the surplus dinars.   LIN 

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Clare:  The President of the Republic: The budget will be approved soon

01/24/2023

President of the Republic Abdul Latif Jamal Rashid received today, Tuesday, a number of ambassadors of Asian countries, in addition to the Russian ambassador to Iraq.

According to a statement by the Presidency of the Republic, which Mawazine News received, the President of the Republic indicated "the importance of expanding ways of cooperation between Iraq and their countries (ambassadors) in a way that achieves the aspirations of the people for progress and prosperity."

Rashid shed light on "what Iraq is going through today from a new era, an Iraq without terrorism, violence and wars," noting that "this is a message that I hope you will carry to your countries."

He stated, "Nineveh governorate and all other governorates are experiencing security stability after some of them suffered from the domination of terrorism. Service and health institutions are currently in a good position, as they provide services to citizens. Likewise, the capital, Baghdad, is stable and safe."

He stressed, "Our relationship with our neighbors is good, and we have good relations with Turkey, and at the same time we have outstanding issues related to borders and our water share, and we hope that these matters will be addressed in a way that strengthens relations between the two countries."

The President of the Republic touched on his participation in the Davos Economic Conference, pointing out that "presidents, leaders and politicians expressed during their meetings their desire to establish strong relations with Iraq. The same was the case when attending the climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh and the Arab summit in Algeria, where the presidents expressed their support for Iraq in its efforts to consolidate Security and stability".

He added, "The current Iraqi government has a comprehensive program to raise the standard of living and services," pointing out that "the budget will be approved soon, and we have programs to solve the housing problem, and strategic plans to build the industrial city and complete the large port of Faw project and others for oil and gas production."

And on the relationship between the federal government and the Kurdistan region, Rashid stressed that "the relations between the two sides are good, and there is a common desire to develop radical solutions to outstanding issues in accordance with the constitution and the law."

In turn, the ambassadors of the countries affirmed, "their countries' keenness and desire to consolidate the bonds of relations to include all levels and in a manner that achieves the hopes and aspirations of the peoples for development and prosperity."  LINK