Monday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 5-22-23
Monday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 5-22-23
The International Monetary Fund Expects Iraq's Oil Production For The Current Year
2023-05-22 Shafaq News/ The International Monetary Fund expected, on Monday, that Iraq's oil production for the current year will reach about 4.63 million barrels per day.
The fund said in a schedule for May of this year, seen by Shafak News agency, that it is also expected to rise in 2024 at a rate of 4.74 million barrels.
He added, "Iraq's oil production in 2022 recorded an average of 4.44 million barrels per day, while in 2021 it recorded an average of 3.97 million barrels per day, and in 2020 it recorded an average of 4 million barrels per day."
He pointed out that "the highest rate of oil production among the Arab oil-producing countries was the share of Saudi Arabia, where production for the year 2022 reached an average of 10.57 million barrels, followed by Iraq, and then the Arab Emirates at a rate of 3.14 million barrels per day, while Bahrain was the least Arab country producing oil." At a rate of 190,000 barrels per day. LINK
An Economist Determines The Reason For The Rise In The Dollar Again: Bank Sales And The Parallel Market
By Sotaliraq 2023-05-21 Economic expert Abd al-Rahman al-Mashhadani attributed on Sunday the reasons for the rise in dollar prices again to the sales of the Central Bank and the parallel market.
Al-Mashhadani said in an interview that “what the bank sells in terms of dollars through the auction that it conducts daily for foreign remittances, which amount daily to more than 250 million dollars, are not audited and it is possible that the bulk of them will be returned due to rejection, and therefore what the bank announces is not necessarily the final sales.” .
He explained that what “the bank sells in terms of remittances was audited by the US Federal Bank before an agreement was reached with JPMorgan Bank to conduct the audit, which is also more accurate and more severe than the audit of the US Federal Bank, which needs time to be audited, in addition to the use of the Central Bank of China.” Who also applies instructions and compliance with extreme precision.
He added, "As long as the transfers need time to be checked and are not executed quickly, the merchant resorted to the parallel market to buy dollars, and thus the dollar rose again in the parallel market, and the costs of buying dollars from the parallel market are less than the costs of transfers that are sent by the central bank because it is the bank." The broker will take a commission, and there is also a commission for the central bank, in addition to the fact that when the merchant contracts to ship his goods, it will be delayed in the factory, and therefore it will cost him money because of the floor.
The price of the dollar rose against the Iraqi dinar on Sunday, reaching 145 thousand dinars compared to 100 dollars, after the dollar prices witnessed a decline during the past week. LINK
A New Rise In Dollar Prices In Baghdad And Kurdistan
2023-05-22 02:11 Shafaq News/ The exchange rates of the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar rose today, Monday, in the main stock exchange in the capital, Baghdad, and in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan Region.
Shafaq News agency reporter said that the central Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya stock exchanges in Baghdad recorded this morning, an exchange rate of 146,900 dinars against 100 US dollars, while the prices yesterday morning, Sunday, were 145,000 dinars.
The buying and selling prices also increased in exchange shops in the local markets in Baghdad, as the selling price reached 148,000 dinars for every 100 dollars, while the purchase price reached 146,000 dinars.
As for Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, the price of the dollar also recorded an increase, as the selling price reached 147,700 dinars, and the purchase price was 147,650 dinars for 100 dollars. LINK
Budget Meetings Collide With Contentious Paragraphs And Insistence On Approving It This Week
Posted On2023-05-22 By Sotaliraq Baghdad / Firas Adnan The Parliamentary Finance Committee announced that the discussions on the budget had reached the controversial articles, pointing out that the most prominent of them is related to the share of the Kurdistan region and the provinces, expected to be completed and presented for voting during the current week, indicating that the total amounts of the law will remain as they are without making amendments to them, due to the agreement politician.
A statement by the House of Representatives stated that the Finance Committee held a meeting yesterday to complete the vote on the draft budget law.
Committee member, Representative Mustafa Al-Karawi, said, "The Finance Committee continues to hold its sessions on the budget and continues to vote on the paragraphs."
Al-Karawi continued, "Most of the paragraphs in the government project have been voted on, and there is little left, but they are related to political differences."
He pointed out, "The draft law is of a technical nature, but it is strange that there are those who are trying to involve it in political dialogues, and this is not true."
And Al-Karawi indicated that “discussions on the budget should come in a calm manner, and there can be no rush at the expense of the public interest.”
And he believes that “any mistake that we may make because of the law will have an impact on it for the next three years, given that the budget is planned for this period.”
Al-Karawi stressed that "when the committee received the project on the twenty-eighth of last month, it held meetings with ministers and governors, as it began its tasks according to the priorities available to it."
And he stressed, "The committee's plan, according to what was agreed upon with its presidency, includes starting with non-controversial paragraphs, so that members will not be preoccupied with controversial paragraphs that may need a political decision."
And Al-Karawi indicated that “the committee has finished most of the non-controversial paragraphs, and it has reached a discussion on the paragraphs related to the share of the Kurdistan region and its debts, as well as the entitlements of the provinces.”
And he reported, "There are governorates that demanded an increase in their shares in the budget, especially those described as poor and suffering from deprivation as a result of not having oil resources or border outlets such as Babel and Diwaniyah."
Al-Karawi stressed that "discussions on the budget may require some time, but it will not take long, but we will finish it soon and put it to the vote."
And he goes on to say that “members of the committee are trying to find out the real numbers that were mentioned in the budget regarding the share of the Kurdistan region, especially since the project came with 12.6% after excluding sovereign and ruling expenditures, with the addition of other amounts.”
Al-Karawi believed, "The discussion on the budget law in a transparent manner conveys messages of reassurance to everyone that the political process is proceeding successfully so that we do not face obstacles in passing it."
And he talked about "the committee's endeavor to deal with the budget in a clear and transparent manner, and to respect the political agreement, provided that everyone knows its content."
And Al-Karawi went on to say that “the law came with sums for the development of the regions, amounting to 2.5 trillion dinars, and there were claims to double it or make it 5 trillion, and some demanded that it be 8 trillion dinars.”
And he believed, "The settlement of the regional development file depends on the space granted to us within the Finance Committee in the transfer procedure between the doors."
And Al-Karawi went on, to «the importance of this transfer being studied in a way that enables the governors to implement their projects during the remaining period of the year, given that many of the draft law on emergency support for food security and development did not take full part in the work, and therefore it is necessary to obtain a balance between previous projects. And the new ones so that we do not stand in front of the accumulation of maintenance amounts at the expense of other sectors.
For his part, another member of the committee, Jamal Cougar, stated that "discussions on the law have reached their final stages, and the draft, in its final form, will soon be submitted to the Presidency of Parliament in order to present it to a vote."
Cougar added, "The political issues have been settled within the agreement between the federal government and the Kurdistan region, and there will be nothing new that delays the adoption of the law."
He pointed out, "The vote on the law may take place during the current week, after completing all logistical issues."
And Cougar indicated, “The State Administration Coalition obligated the Finance Committee not to make amendments to the budget that would reduce its amounts, given that this coalition is looking for government support and enabling it to proceed with service projects.”
And he stressed, "All dialogues regarding the budget are proceeding in the right direction, with the presence of political will that emphasizes the need to agree on the law and vote on it without side disputes."
And Cougar concluded, “The deficit for the current year will be secured through the round of oil sales for the past years, in addition to the remainder of the emergency support law for food security, and the budget will be passed for only seven months, and this clears the way for benefiting from sums that were supposed to be allocated.” for the past months.”
It is noteworthy that Parliament had earlier completed the first and second readings of the draft budget law submitted by the Council of Ministers for three years, and according to the project, its amounts amount to 200 trillion dinars, which is the highest in Iraq’s history, with a large deficit of 64 trillion dinars.
The Central Bank.. New Directives To All Licensed Banks
2023.05.22 - Baghdad - Nas On Monday, the Central Bank of Iraq issued new directives to all licensed banks.
The directives, which "NAS" reviewed (May 22, 2023), included "reducing commissions for transferring foreign currencies, and publishing the percentages of these commissions on the official websites of banks." https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=107725
Video From Kurdistan.. Beating, Punching And Cracking In The Region's Parliament Among The Kurdish Deputies
Policy |Today, 10:5 Baghdad today – Kurdistan The proceedings of the session of the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region, today, Monday, witnessed a clash of hands, beatings, punches, and breaking of the contents of Parliament between the Kurdish members of the Parliament.
(Baghdad Today) obtained a video showing what happened in the session, including a clash of hands, beatings, punches, and breaking the contents of the parliament between the Kurdish members of the parliament, while a number of the region’s journalists who were inside the parliament building were injured to cover the proceedings of the session.
The Kurdistan region is witnessing sharp political differences between the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union, which today have reached the point of a clash, and observers believe that the predominance of either party in this file may pave the way for changes in the political scene within the region during the coming years. LINK