Monday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 5-1-23

Parliamentary Finance Holds A Meeting To Study And Review The Items And Paragraphs Of The Budget

01/05/2023  information Office   The Parliamentary Finance Committee, headed by Eng. Atwan Al-Atwani, and the presence of its members, held an important meeting to study and review the items and paragraphs of the federal general budget for the fiscal years 2023-2024-2024 and make notes on them in order to speed up their approval.

The head of the committee, Eng. Atwan Al-Atwani, said: His committee started the meeting by reading the first chapter and the budget items, reviewing the attached tables related to the law, following up the data received according to the government’s vision for one or three years, and putting forward proposals by the members of the committee in this regard, in addition to discussing maximizing revenues and reducing expenditures, and setting The ruling texts that deal with the state of incapacity and the payment of debts.

He added that the committee continued to read the second chapter on deficit expenditures related to amounts related to internal and external debts, and to review the details of calculating grants and subsidies used from amounts allocated to state departments and the public sector, special programs, expenditures, and investment projects, according to ministries, amid an emphasis on the need to oblige the government By automating electronic data and programs for the country.

Mr. Al-Atwani stressed the importance of allocating sufficient funds for regional development projects and the reconstruction and development of projects in all governorates, and distributing them according to population and poverty line, as well as the possibility of making transfers between ministries to ensure justice in maximizing savings and reducing spending.

The Finance Committee is intensifying its meetings and conducting meetings and extensive discussions in order to complete the Federal General Budget Law and develop appropriate formulas commensurate with the country's need in accordance with the implementation of the government program.

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The Dollar Rises Against The Dinar

Market  Economy News – Baghdad  The exchange rates of the dollar rose against the dinar in trading today, Monday.

Baghdad  Sale: 143,250 dinars per 100 dollars   Buying: 141,250 dinars per 100 dollars

South Sale: 143,250 dinars per 100 dollars   Buying: 141,250 dinars per 100 dollars

North  Sale: 143,650 dinars per 100 dollars   Purchase: 141,750 dinars per 100 dollars

 https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=33937

Deputy: Paragraphs In The Budget Have Reached The Point Of Wasting Public Funds

Baghdad-Iraq today:  A member of the House of Representatives confirmed that the budget included wasteful expenditures.

Representative Amir Al-Mamouri said, in a press interview, "We found in the budget a lot of expenses that are at a high level, and there is an exchange that may be at the level of waste, and there is an exchange that is not according to priorities."

He added, "We have many observations, in addition to the debts incurred in the country's budget."

Al-Mamouri pointed out, to "the previous debts during the previous budgets, which exceeded 95 trillion, in addition to another 10 trillion in this budget, and all of these entail benefits for the country."  LINK

An Economist Who Explains How To Overcome The Fiscal Deficit In The Budget

Information / Baghdad... The economist, Dr. Safwan Qusay, explained that Iraq needs the price of a barrel of oil in the budget to be $90 in order to overcome the deficit and avoid resorting to internal borrowing.

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Qusai said to Al-Maalouma, “The financial deficit in the budget is rounded up through the financial surplus, which amounts to 20 billion dollars, and there is also a possibility to reduce the financing of the deficit so that the Ministry of Finance does not finance the allocated allocations, and also that the budget opened the window for internal borrowing from Iraqi banks at the expense of the bank’s reserves.” central".

He added, "It is hoped that oil prices will rise in order to cover the deficit, as Iraq needs the price of a barrel of oil to be $90 in order for there to be financing for the deficit away from borrowing."

And he indicated that "the positive outlook for oil prices during the current year may be that Iraq will achieve a rise in prices, so that the price of a barrel during the current year is 82 dollars." LINK

Chambers Of Commerce Expect The Parallel Dollar To Disappear At The End Of Next May

Economy  |Baghdad today – Diyala  The head of the Chamber of Commerce in Diyala, Muhammad Mulla Jawad al-Tamimi, confirmed today, Sunday, that the parallel market for selling dollars will disappear at the end of next May.

Jawad told (Baghdad Today) that "the parallel market for selling dollars in Diyala and the rest of the provinces has lost 10% of the exchange value of the dollar in the past weeks, and it currently ranges between 140-141 thousand dinars per 100%," stressing that "the decline will be more in May." Next".

He added that "the market no longer has any importance in determining the price, especially since there are several variables that pushed this direction, the most prominent of which is the decline in the dollarization of the markets at rates ranging from 20-25% and because of the resort of merchants and companies to relying on the dinar in the payment of debts, dues and internal trade exchanges, in addition to the decrease in smuggling." Companies resort to the electronic platform.

 Jawad pointed out that "the disappearance of the parallel market for selling the dollar is a positive case in order to end the file of speculation that was behind a series of crises that struck the Iraqi markets, but the temporary disappearance came due to the presence of networks trying to keep the market because it represents large profits in currency trade and speculation that occurs from time to time for several reasons." ".

Earlier, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Ammar Hamad Khalaf, confirmed that the difference between the official and parallel exchange rates will gradually disappear, indicating its stability at 132 thousand dinars per 100 dollars.

Khalaf said in a press statement, followed by (Baghdad Today), that "the central bank took several measures to reduce the price of the dollar, especially through the three packages that it launched at the beginning of this year, which were sufficient to address the high exchange rate in the parallel market."

He added, "The bank met with the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce and a number of merchants to discuss the challenges and put in place mechanisms to address them."

He expected the issuance of new packages to address all the challenges facing merchants to facilitate their obtaining foreign currencies.

The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank attributed the gradual decline in the price of the dollar in the past two days to the increase in the volume of sales of the Central Bank.

He explained, "The bank has liberated restrictions on sales, and the bank can sell any amount of dollars as long as there is a real demand for dollars," noting that "the difference between the official and parallel exchange rates will gradually disappear."

He stated that there is a great response by banks to the Central Bank's instructions regarding the official exchange rate.

Despite the Iraqi government's adoption of the recent central bank's decision to adopt a new official exchange rate from 145 thousand to 130 thousand dinars for every $100, the margin of difference between the official and parallel exchange rates remains the same, as it ranges between 15 to 25 thousand dinars.   LINK

Continuous Meetings To Reduce It .. Parliamentary Finance Is “Not Convinced” Of The Huge Allocations To Some Ministries In The Budget

Posted On2023-05-01 By Sotaliraq   The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed, on Sunday, the goal of continuing meetings with government agencies regarding the budget law, noting that it believes that there are large allocations to ministries compared to governorate allocations.

Committee member Mueen Al-Kazemi said, "The Parliamentary Finance Committee holds daily and long-hour meetings with government agencies and ministries in order to discuss their allocations and work to reduce expenditures with the aim of reducing the financial deficit in the budget law."

And Al-Kazemi indicated that “the Parliamentary Finance Committee will continue to hold its meetings with all relevant government agencies and jurisdiction, and after the meetings are over, all financial allocations for those ministries will be studied and discussed in order to reduce expenditures and deficits, as we believe that there are very large allocations for some ministries compared to the lack of allocations for the governorates within Territories development.

Figures issued by the Parliamentary Finance Committee indicate that the allocations of the Ministries of Interior, Defense, Oil, Health and Electricity dominate most of the financial allocations, compared to weak allocations for the Ministries of Water Resources, Education and Agriculture. LINK

Dollar Prices Are Rising Again In The Local Markets

Economy  |Baghdad today – Baghdad  Today, Monday, the exchange rates of the dollar against the dinar recorded a slight increase in the main stock exchange and local markets in the capital, Baghdad .

The (Baghdad Today) correspondent said, "The exchange rate of the dollar for today, on the stock exchange, reached 142,500 Iraqi dinars for every 100 dollars .  "

And he added, "The selling price reached 143,500 dinars per 100 dollars, and the purchase price reached 141,500 dinars per 100 dollars in local exchange offices."  LINK

The Agenda Of The Parliament Session Is Devoid Of Discussing The Draft Budget Law     

The agenda of the parliament session scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, was empty of discussing the draft general federal budget law.

The agenda of the twenty-second session of the first legislative term of the second legislative year included a discussion of a number of draft laws, including the first reading of the draft first amendment to the Yazidi Survivors Law and a discussion of Iraq's accession to the Islamic Organization for Food Security.   LINK