Monday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 5-8-23
Monday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 5-8-23
After Discussing It With Romanowski... The Iraqi Budget Is On Sami's Table And The Parliamentary Finance
2023-05-08 Shafaq News/ On Monday, the US Ambassador to Baghdad, Elena Romanowsky, revealed the content of her meeting with the Iraqi Finance Minister, Taif Sami.
Romanowski stated, in a tweet seen by Shafaq News Agency, that she "met with the Minister of Finance to follow up the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that took place in Washington and discuss the status of the Iraqi government's budget in 2023."
She explained that "the US government supports ways of social spending, investment in infrastructure and long-term economic development to meet the needs of Iraqis."
Yesterday, Sunday, the Ministry of Finance announced that its Minister, Taif Sami, and the US Ambassador to Baghdad, Elena Romanowski, confirmed support for government measures in the field of Iraqi banking reform, in addition to discussing the possibility of establishing long-term investment partnerships by creating stable investment environmental conditions in the Iraqi market.
In a related context, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi, First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, chaired a meeting of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, during which it hosted Finance Minister Taif Sami, to discuss the draft federal budget law.
During the meeting, Mandalawi stressed the importance of expediting the completion of the discussion and maturation of the project, indicating that the Iraqi people of all sects are waiting for the approval of the budget because it is directly related to their lives, and will not excuse anyone in the event of delay.
The First Deputy called for determining the appropriate procedures to overcome the current obstacles and challenges to expedite the approval of the budget, stressing the need to guarantee the financial dues of those with special grades for appointment, and to increase the share of the governorates to complete the lagging and strategic projects.
During the meeting, according to the statement, the doors for disbursing the amounts of the Emergency Support Law were clarified, and an emphasis was placed on providing the Finance Committee with detailed data about them. Employee compensation and service requirements, grants and subsidies, social care, and internal and external debts were also discussed. LINK
For The Fifth Month.. Iraq Maintains Its 30th Rank In The World With The Largest Gold Reserves
2023-05-08 Shafaq News/ The World Gold Council announced, on Monday, that Iraq has maintained its 30th rank in the world for the fifth consecutive month, with the largest gold reserves.
The council said in its latest schedule for the month of April 2023, seen by Shafaq News agency, that "Iraq's ranking comes out of 100 countries listed in the table with the largest reserves of gold, after it rose ten ranks in July 2022, bringing its gold possession to 130.3 tons, which represents 8.1% of the rest." other precautions.
And she added, "Iraq did not buy or sell any amount of gold during the first months of 2023," noting that "the last purchase of gold by Iraq was in June of last year 2022 when it bought 33.9 tons."
He pointed out that “the most central banks buying gold during the first quarter of 2023 was the share of Singapore, as it bought 68.67 tons, followed by China by 57.85 tons, followed by Turkey 30.21 tons, then India 7.26 tons, while the most central banks of countries sold gold during This period went to Kazakhstan with 19.64 tons, followed by Uzbekistan with 14.62 tons, and then Cambodia with 10.08 tons.
Globally, according to the table, the United States of America still leads the rest of the countries with the largest possession of gold in the world, with 8,133 thousand tons, followed by Germany with 3,355 thousand tons, and then Italy came with 2,451 thousand tons, while Bosnia and Herzegovina ranked 100th with 1.5 tons, preceded by Yemen with 1.6 tons.
On June 27, 2022, Iraq announced the purchase of new quantities of gold, amounting to approximately (34) tons, an increase of 35% over what was in its possession.
It is noteworthy that the World Gold Council, which is based in the United Kingdom, has extensive experience and deep knowledge of the factors causing market change, and its members consist of the largest and most gold mining companies in the world. LINK
President Of The World Bank: The World Is Facing Huge Economic Challenges
Arab and international World Bank President David Malpass stressed that the world is facing huge economic challenges, in statements that may be his last before leaving office next June.
Malpass said, "Development worldwide is facing huge challenges such as high inflation and interest rates, in addition to very high levels of debt, causing a serious decline in growth and investment, especially in developing countries."
Malpass emphasized that investing in people is a top priority for the World Bank, and that one of the main drivers of human capital accumulation is access to high-quality education.
He considered accelerating access to quality education as a major development challenge, and vital to achieving breakthroughs in science, technology and innovation.
With regard to the US economy, the President of the World Bank explained, "We must bear in mind that if you cut the interest rate only, this will not solve the problem."
Malpass added, "People will suffer from inflation, and if the interest rate is suddenly and quickly reduced, this will weaken the dollar, and the inflation rate will rise again, and this will greatly harm the poor, and I think that a goal must be set to achieve stability between a low inflation rate and a stable dollar."
David Malpass, the current president of the World Bank, announced his early resignation from his post, in a decision he described within the bank's corridors as "surprising", while reports indicate that the decision is somehow linked to the White House.
It is noteworthy that the World Bank revealed, last week, that the Board of Directors had chosen the US candidate to head the Indian-American Financial Corporation, Ajay Banga, who gives combating climate change a priority unlike his predecessor.
The new World Bank president will take office on the second of next June for a period of 5 years, one day after the end of the term of his predecessor, David Malpas, who was chosen by former US President Donald Trump. Views 12 Added 05/08/2023 - https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=34066
Reuters: Iraq Will Sell Basra Oil Four Dollars Less Than Brent Prices
Energy Economy News-Baghdad The Iraqi Oil Marketing Company, SOMO, has set Iraqi crude prices for next June.
Reuters reported, quoting SOMO, that Iraq set the official selling price for Basra Medium crude in June to Asia, at a discount of 15 cents per barrel from the average prices of Oman / Dubai.
It added that Iraq set the official selling price for Basra Medium crude in June to North and South America at a discount of one dollar per barrel from the high-sulfur Argus crude index.
While Iraq set the official selling price for Basra Medium crude in June to Europe, at a discount of $4.60 per barrel over Brent crude. 473 05/07/2023 - https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=34056
Oil Minister: The Earthquake Is Behind Turkey Stopping The Flow Of Iraqi Oil Through Its Territory
Baghdad - Iraq today: The Iraqi Oil Minister, Hayan Abdul Ghani, revealed that the earthquake events on the sixth of last February called on Turkey to stop exporting the oil of the Kurdistan region, stressing the importance of all parties' commitment to the oil agreement between Baghdad and Erbil.
This came during his hosting by the Parliamentary Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee, headed by Representative Haibat al-Halbousi, head of the committee.
Hayan Abdul Ghani, pointed out that "there is an agreement between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government regarding the export of oil through the (SOMO) company so that there is no difference in prices."
Regarding the reasons for stopping the export of oil, he mentioned that "the reasons for stopping the oil export from the Turkish side are after the earthquakes that took place in Turkey recently, which prompted the Turkish side to stop it so that the specialized company can examine and confirm its safety.”
The Iraqi Oil Minister stressed "the importance of the commitment of all parties to the agreement on the issue of exporting crude oil from the Kurdistan region, which is determined as the lowest export rate by (400) thousand barrels per day."
He pointed out that "compensation is now being made by increasing crude oil production by the Basra Oil Company until work is resumed to export oil from the Kurdistan region." LINK
After The Budget.. Al-Sudani Is Preparing A Package Of Dismissals That Include Ministries And Agencies
Today 08:57 Information / Baghdad... A member of the Al-Fatah Alliance, Ali Al-Fatlawi, confirmed, on Monday, that Prime Minister Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani had obtained the green light from the political blocs to dismiss the negligent officials, pointing to the importance of giving ministers an opportunity after the budget legislation to observe the extent of their success and failure in managing the ministries.
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Al-Fatlawi told Al-Maalouma, "The platform developed by Prime Minister Muhammad Shia'a Al-Sudani and the charter agreed upon by the political blocs before Al-Sudani took power gives him the opportunity to build a real state capable of overcoming the traps that were set for it previously."
He added, "Al-Sudani gave an opportunity to ministers, governors and general managers to carry out their work and then evaluate them, and today we notice the emergence of a first batch of negligent officials, as they were dismissed and waiting for other batches."
And he indicated that "it is fair to give a period to the ministers in order to wait for the budget legislation in order to observe what they will do in terms of work in their ministries so that there is another opinion for the prime minister in the event of the failure or success of the ministry," stressing that "the political blocs gave Al-Sudani the green light in order to make changes which he finds appropriate. LINK
He Reached A Critical Stage.. Parliament Agreed To Remove Al-Halbousi From Power
Information / Baghdad... The conflict within the Sunni house has reached a critical stage in light of Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi's continued attempt to impose the decision on the opponents inside the same house, at a time when political parties refused to continue with this approach, as it made the conflict raging in Anbar Governorate with the approaching elections The local council, during which he seeks to obtain more power and seats in order to fully control the province, which generated great opposition inside and outside the province, especially within Parliament, where some parties assert that the majority in the House of Representatives will go towards dismissing Al-Halbousi in the event that the Sunnis put forward this option.
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Former MP Jassim Al-Bayati told Al-Maalouma that "the political competition for local seats will be concentrated in Anbar Governorate, because there is great competition to pull the rug out from under Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi." its political space.
On the other hand, Ali Hussein, a member of the Al-Fateh Alliance, confirmed to Al-Maalouma that "the Speaker of Parliament has become an unacceptable figure, as he will be removed from the position if the Sunnis raise this matter and by the majority in the House of Representatives, as the coordination framework will stand by them when The dismissal project was put forward in the council.
On a related note, political analyst Hussein al-Kinani saw during his interview with Al-Maalouma that "there is more than one party working to change Muhammad al-Halbousi and remove him from the position of Speaker of Parliament after accusing him of monopolizing power and exploiting it improperly, especially since he monopolized power in Anbar Governorate at the expense of Other parties, in addition to his involvement in corruption files through the seizure of state lands amounting to 64 thousand plots, through forgery and the involvement of parties in the Real Estate Registration Department in this file. LINK
The Race To Legislate The Budget.. Parliamentary Finance Hosts A Sublime Spectrum
Baghdad today – Baghdad The Parliamentary Finance Committee hosted, this evening, Sunday, the Minister of Finance, Taif Sami, in the context of hosting the ministers, successively, to discuss budget items and financial allocations.
And the media department of Parliament said in a statement received by "Baghdad Today", that "the Finance Committee hosts the Minister of Finance headed by the First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mohsen Al-Mandalawi." LINK