Monday Evening Iraq Economic News Highlights 8-22-22

Iraq Is Ranked 79th Globally And 8th In The Arab World As The Poorest People In The World

Iraq  10:35 - 08-22-2022   Iraq ranked 79th in the world among the world's poorest people, ahead of Egypt, which ranked 92nd in the world, according to the American magazine Global Finance.

And the magazine said in a report, that “the poorest countries in the world suffered from civil wars and ethnic and sectarian conflicts, and then Covid-19 came, which made the bad conditions worse,” noting that “the world has enough wealth and resources to ensure that the entire human race enjoys a basic standard of living.”

And the magazine explained, according to a table prepared for this, that "Iraq ranked 8th in the Arab world and 79th globally out of 192 countries listed in the table among the poorest peoples in the world, as the Iraqi per capita GDP amounted to 12,141 thousand dollars annually."

https://kirkuktv.net/AR/Details/8312

Gold Prices Fell To An Unprecedented Level In About A Month

Economie  2022-08-22 | 02:49  1,581 views  Gold prices fell for the sixth consecutive session, on Monday, to reach their lowest level in more than three weeks, affected by the strength of the dollar and expectations that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) would raise interest rates to curb the rise in inflation.

And the price of gold in spot transactions fell 0.1% to $ 1746.06 an ounce (an ounce) from 01:31 GMT, after it reached its lowest level since July 28 to $ 1743.83 in early Asian trading. Gold lost nearly 3% last week.

US gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,758.80.

The dollar rose 0.1% to its highest level in more than a month against rival currencies, making gold more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.

Economists in a Reuters poll said the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by 50 basis points in September, amid expectations that inflation has reached its peak and growing fears of recession.

A series of US central bank officials said last week that the bank should continue raising borrowing costs to control high inflation.

Gold is very sensitive to rising US interest rates because it increases the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.

As for other precious metals, the price of silver in spot transactions rose 0.2% to $ 19.06 an ounce, platinum fell 0.3% to $ 893.38 and palladium increased 0.2% to $ 2129.21, according to Reuters.  LINK

Al-Kazemi’s Advisor Clarifies The Fate Of Government Revenues, Taxes, And Fees In The Absence Of A Budget[/Size]

Economie| 03:41 - 08/21/2022   Baghdad - Mawazine News   , the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, explained, today, Sunday, the fate of government revenues, taxes and fees in the absence of the federal general budget.

Saleh said, "In the absence of the federal general budget, the government revenue side, both oil and non-oil, remains effective and continues to collect automatically without interruption, regardless of the legislative circumstances related to the general budget, based on the provisions and applications of the Federal Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019 as amended."

He added, "The collection of taxes imposed on taxpayers, both direct and indirect, continues, as well as government fees and wages collected for the benefit of the state, to work automatically without interruption, and their revenues are collected from taxpayers in accordance with the provisions, regulations and legal systems legislated in the Republic of Iraq."

And he continued, "Its function is to feed public expenditures, whether in accordance with the legislation of a law for the public budget or what is available from the applications provided by the financial management law in force in how to manage public spending."     https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=203051

Iraq Is The Third Largest Importer Of Fresh Turkish Fruits And Vegetables In July

Shafaq News/ The Turkish Mediterranean Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Exporters Association (AKİB) announced on Monday that Iraq was the third largest importer of these crops during the past month.

The head of the association, Ferhat Guruz, said in a report seen by Shafak News Agency, that "Turkey's exports of fresh fruits and vegetables exceeded 155 million dollars last July, while the share of exporters in the Mediterranean region of the total revenue amounted to 54.4 million dollars. ".

And he indicated that, "During the last month, Turkey delivered 179,400 tons of products to foreign markets," explaining that "European exports to Russia grew by 53% to reach $83.1 million, while exports to Germany amounted to $28.2 million, while Iraq was the third largest. An importer of fresh Turkish fruits and vegetables, he bought $4.3 million worth of produce.

Goruz added that "exports to Israel rose by 148% year on year to reach $2.6 million, and shipments of products to Austria jumped by 143% to reach $1.9 million, and exports to Saudi Arabia recorded an increase of 100% to reach 1.1 million. dollar".

He pointed out that "the most selling export products were the crops of peaches, cherries and apricots," noting that "peach exports rose by 53 percent to achieve revenues of 41 million dollars, while mushroom exports rose to 1.6 million dollars, and pear and apricot exports increased by 106 % and 82% to reach $1.2 million and $26 million, respectively.    LINK

The Recovery Of The Financial Sector And The Rise In Unemployment Rates.. Learn About The Indicators Of The Iraqi Economy During 10 Years

Money and business   Economy News-Baghdad   Economic indicators showed the recovery of the banking and financial sector in Iraq during the past ten years, in contrast to the high rates of unemployment and government expenditures.

Indicators in a report of the Central Bank of Iraq seen by "Economy News" showed that the unemployment rate rose to 16.5% in 2021, compared to 11.9% in 2012, and the foreign reserve also decreased from 69.6 billion dollars in 2012 to 63.8 billion dollars in 2021.

The indicators showed that the total deposits with commercial banks rose from 62 trillion dinars in 2012 to 96 trillion dinars in 2021, offset by the increase in the total capital of banks from 5.9 trillion dinars in 2012 to 17.7 trillion dinars in 2021.

The number of banks in Iraq increased to 73 banks, compared to 54 banks in 2012, in contrast, the total public revenues decreased to 109 trillion dinars, compared to 119 trillion dinars in 2012.

The indicators show that total expenditures rose from 90 trillion dinars in 2012 to 102 trillion dinars in 2021, while the total public debt rose from 6.5 trillion dinars in 2012 to 69.9 in 2021.

As for imports, they also decreased from 50 billion dollars in 2012 to 34 billion dollars in 2021, as well as exports decreased from 94 billion dollars in 2012 to 73 billion dollars in 2021.

Views 90   Added 08/22/22 - 11:24 AM    Update 08/22/22 - 12:57 PM

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China Expands In Iraq: Huge Oil And Infrastructure Projects

Arab economy    In Iraq, rich in oil and poor in infrastructure, China has found a foothold. In addition to the work of its companies in the oil field, it is building schools and an airport in projects that this country needs, but it puts it in the face of the risk of falling into a debt trap with Beijing in a not so distant time.

The Chinese presence in Iraq is not new. But Beijing has recently diversified and expanded its projects in this country that has suffered from wars and conflicts for more than forty years.

And John Calabrese, director of the Middle East and Asia Project at the Middle East Institute, told AFP that "Iraq is in dire need of foreign investment, especially in the field of energy infrastructure."

Here, China found an opportunity. The People's Republic needs to secure its energy needs, diversify its sources, and become the first importer of Iraqi oil. It alone imports 44 percent of Iraq's oil exports, according to the Prime Minister's advisor, Mazhar Salih, to the Iraqi News Agency.

In the field of energy, "the situation is active," says the Chinese ambassador, Cui Wei, in response to a question by "AFP" at a press conference. But he adds: "We are still in the stage of entering Iraq and cooperating with the Iraqi side, as well as with foreign companies operating in Iraq."

Cui explains that in terms of "the number and value of projects" in the energy field, "the Chinese side is still at the beginning stage."

John Calabrese believes that behind the clear commercial goals, "there also lies China's ambition to showcase its work, polish its image, and deeply entrench itself in a country and region dominated by the West, especially the United States" for a long time.

"Belt and Road"

In 2019, Iraq became one of China's partners in the "Belt and Road" initiative, with the two countries signing an agreement in this regard.

The "Belt and Road" initiative aims to build marine and land infrastructure projects, better connecting China with Asia, Europe and Africa.

But the West sees it as a tool to enhance China's influence in poor countries, denouncing in particular the fact that these projects have accumulated large debts on those countries. Westerners also suspect corruption and human rights abuses.

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry told AFP that "China is actively participating in the reconstruction of the Iraqi economy," stressing that Baghdad is an "important partner" in the "Belt and Road" initiative.

China Expands in Iraq: Huge Oil and Infrastructure Projects E0677A4D-7EE6-4D4B-B8F3-1892708454D9

Arab economy

Oil jumps Iraq's foreign exchange reserves above 80 billion dollars

Within the framework of this initiative, Iraq “remained the third most important partner” for China in the energy sector “between 2013 and 2022,” as stated in a report by Christoph Nedobel for the Center for Development and Green Finance at Fudan University in Shanghai.

For example, in the Maysan Governorate in southern Iraq, the Halfaya field is being developed with a consortium of companies led by the Chinese state-owned PetroChina, along with the French Total and Malaysian Petronas, as the director of the Maysan Oil Company explained in a statement to the Iraqi News Agency.

As for the trade exchange between the two countries, it is booming and amounted in the year 2020, to 30 billion dollars, as the Iraqi News Agency quoted an official at the Chinese embassy.

Given the importance of infrastructure reconstruction, many projects undertaken by China in this field fall within the framework of the agreement signed between the two countries in 2019 under the title "Reconstruction for Oil". Among these projects, a thousand schools and an airport in Nasiriyah.

In the city of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq, Power China is working on one of these schools. It is one of two Chinese companies implementing a project to build eight thousand schools in total in three phases, the first phase of which includes 1,000 schools in 15 Iraqi provinces.

Language Lessons

These projects are financed by Iraq's sale of 100,000 barrels of oil per day to China, the revenues of which are deposited in an account managed by the Central Bank of Iraq in China. These proceeds can only be used in projects carried out by Chinese companies exclusively in Iraq.

Chinese companies should also work with local Iraqi contracting companies "to provide manpower and raw materials," as explained to "AFP", spokesman for the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, Haider Majid.

Yasar Al-Maliki, an economist at the Middle East Economic Survey, considers that providing job opportunities for Iraqi labor is a "positive matter", but "there are rumors that the majority of Iraqi companies are politically connected, and are unknown, so there are fears of corruption."

Arab economy   The second attack targeting power transmission towers in Iraq within a day

Majeed said there were plans to also include "roads, bridges, railways, energy, oil and health projects" in the agreement.

But al-Maliki warns that "the Iraqi authorities use the agreement in useless projects, and end up with many debts, as is the case in many African countries."

China also attracts Iraqis who want to learn its language. From here, the Iraqi-Chinese Friendship Society established the only Chinese language institute in Iraq, with the exception of the Kurdistan region, less than a year ago.

On the study benches here are students who want to complete their education in China, and merchants who import their goods from this country. As for the teacher, Sajjad Al-Qazzaz, 25, he learned the language during the six years he studied medicine in China.

Al-Qazzaz says, "When I returned to Iraq from China, I found that many people want to learn Chinese."

The majority of the students are traders like Laith Ahmed. "I own a company that imports electrical appliances from China," says the man.

He added, "I always go there and find it difficult to deal with the Chinese, because most of them do not speak English, so I decided to learn Chinese to make it easier to communicate with them."  (AFP)   LINK