More Iraqi News Thursday PM 1-7-21
More Iraqi News Thursday PM 1-7-21
TLM724 Administrator BondLady’s Corner
A Parliamentary Approach To Return The Budget To The Government For The Purpose Of Amendment
Political| 01:18 - 07/01/2021 BAGHDAD - Mawazine News A deputy in the House of Representatives revealed, on Thursday, a parliamentary intention to return the budget to the government for the purpose of making a fundamental amendment to it.
The deputy from Basra Governorate, Uday Awad, said that "the 2021 budget law unfaired the central and southern governorates of Iraq, in terms of the distribution of financial allocations and projects, although these provinces provide the state budget with approximately 95% of the funds, which are distributed to all cities," Including the Kurdistan region. "
He stressed that "the deputies of the central and southern governorates will not pass the budget bill for the year 2021, without making an amendment to it that does justice to the provinces, especially oil producing, and distributes funds in a fair and equitable manner, and not according to political deals and courtesies."
Awad stated, "Representatives from different political blocs are studying returning the draft budget bill for the year 2021 to the Council of Ministers, for the purpose of making fundamental amendments to it, especially since some amendments are not within the authority of Parliament, but must be modified exclusively by the government." https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=137089
Al-Mada Newspaper Talks About A Plan To Recover $ 150 Billion
Demonstrators are demanding accountability for the political class accused of corruption in Iraq. AP
Money and business Economy News – Baghdad Al-Mada newspaper, published in Baghdad, revealed the existence of a plan to combat corruption, including the recovery of $ 150 billion.
In one of the biggest political deals, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi agreed with the heads of political blocs to issue arrest warrants against (22) government officials involved in the theft and smuggling of funds estimated at more than 150 billion. Dollars " .
She added that the government anti-corruption committee in charge of investigations into files of corruption and exceptional crimes is expected to reveal the names of those involved in looting and money laundering operations, including former ministers, a current minister, a deputy minister and the head of an independent body .
She emphasized that the political deal also stipulated that the government release the accused after their arrest in exchange for repaying the money they stole and returning it to the state treasury, which suffers from severe financial hardship after the decline in oil prices due to the repercussions of the Korna pandemic .
It indicated that "the Anti-Corruption Committee led by Abu Ragheef has completed investigations with a number of government officials, and will soon issue arrest warrants against (22) officials between a former and current minister, an undersecretary, a director general, and the head of an independent commission ."
She noted that Al-Kazemi and the heads of political blocs agreed to activate the file of corruption through the government committee in charge of this purpose,
And that the agreement stipulated the release of the accused or those involved in stealing money in exchange for returning it to the state treasury, "explaining that the judgments that will soon be issued against the accused will be" suspended sentences "so that those involved in the theft can return the money to the state treasury .
She pointed out that "the deal excluded those involved in smuggling large funds abroad and invested them, and therefore it is difficult to return it to the government again because of the laws in effect in those countries that prohibit the return or return of money after changing the gender of smuggled money ."
She added that the "22" personalities have a great financial weight due to the corruption operations they have carried out over the past years. It is expected that the deal will return nearly $ 150 billion to the state treasury .
Number of observations 147 Date added 01/07/2021 https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=23509
Governor Of The Central Bank Of Iraq, Mustafa Ghalib
Banks Economy News – Baghdad On Thursday, the Central Bank of Iraq announced the participation of its governor, Mustafa Ghaleb Mekhaif, in a ceremony honoring the families of the martyrs and the wounded, on the occasion of the army and police holidays.
The Central Bank said in a statement received by "Al-Eqtisad News", that the ceremony "included distributing a number of gifts to the children of the martyrs and wounded from the types of our heroic armed forces, as part of a community initiative sponsored by the Central Bank of Iraq and in which the Association of Private Banks and Exchange and Electronic Payment Companies participate."
The governor affirmed, according to the statement, that "the security forces are the pride of Iraq and its people. They are the ones who made sacrifices to save this country, and if not for their great heroism, we would not have been able to stand here today." The bodies provided by them in order to defend the soil of the homeland. "
Number of observations 56 Date added 01/07/2021 https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=23510
A Government Source Expects An Increase In Trade Exchange At The Mandali Border Crossing With Iran As The Foreign Currency Exchange Stabilizes
Wednesday 06, January 2021 20:40 | Economical Views: 394 Baquba / NINA / A government source in Diyala expected an increase in trade exchange at the border crossing with Iran as the foreign currency exchange stabilized.
He told the correspondent of the Iraqi National News Agency ( NINA ) today that the total number of commercial trucks entering Iraq through the Mandali-Soumar border crossing with Iran, east of Baquba, amounted to more than 100 trucks, coinciding with the high rate of economic exchange between Iraq and Iran during the past three days.
He added that commercial activity at the Mandali border crossing increased after the stability of the dollar exchange rate. Indicating that the outlets of the Kurdistan region will have negative effects on the reality of trade exchange at the Mandali crossing due to the customs facilities granted to merchants that differ greatly from the border crossing with Iran. https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=880357
Observers: A New Leap For The Dollar .. It Did The Financial Thing To Benefit, And It Reaped A Negative Return Amid Reluctance To Buy And A Decrease In Sales Dollar
The Baghdad Post Thursday, January 07, 2021 03:23 PM Economic observers believe that the decision of the Ministry of Finance to reduce the value of the Iraqi dinar by more than 20% to address the liquidity crisis in Iraq due to low oil prices and to achieve the reforms that it promised several months ago, had negative results rather than positive, as this decision led to turmoil The market, growing poverty, and criticism even came from financial policy experts.
The Ministry of Finance had formally requested the Central Bank of Iraq; An increase in the exchange rate to 1450 dinars against the dollar, which led to market turmoil and the beginning of the rise of the dollar.
Finance did not achieve the required numbers , and Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani, a professor of political economy at the Iraqi University, confirmed in an interview: "The Ministry of Finance did not achieve the required numbers for which it lowered the exchange rate," noting that "the budget talks about $ 50 billion in oil revenues."
He continued, "Only half of these oil revenues will be able to sell them to the Central Bank because of government purchases that they pay in dollars from abroad, such as the huge contracts of the Ministry of Defense, and the purchases of the Ministry of Trade, Agriculture and Industry are all paid in dollars, which cost $ 8 billion, and there is also the payment of dues for oil companies operating in Iraq, which amount to $ 12 billion, in addition to $ 6 billion in interest and foreign debt installments, and the remainder is $ 24 billion that the Ministry of Finance sells to the Central Bank. "
Al-Mashhadani points out that "what is left of the amount will add to the government only 5 trillion dinars as a financial gain, not more."
Al-Mashhadani and confirms that "the liquidity of the salaries of the employees has nothing to do with the sales of the Central Bank because the latter adopted the new monetary policy in the last two loans."
The cash issuance is the direct borrowing from the central bank (overdraft) without the latter having the right to object.
Al-Mashhadani attributes the decrease in central bank sales; Until that "the price of the dollar in the markets is still less than the official rate of the bank, and therefore the trader began to go to the market to obtain what he needed from the hard currency that was widely available in the markets as a result of the purchase of merchants, banks, exchange offices and even people for dollars at times of leakage of news of the bank's intention to raise the price Dollar exchange. "
The high exchange rate and poverty in Iraq
from his side; The economic and financial expert, Hilal Al-Tahan, said in an interview with Shafaq News that "the Ministry of Finance, by raising the exchange rate, achieves some gains by increasing its revenues from the Iraqi dinar after selling the dollar at a higher price than before, but that is at the expense of other things; namely that the high prices In the market, it negatively affects the living conditions of the poor and middle classes, and raises the poverty rate in the country, especially if we know that Iraq lacks national industry in which the Iraqi product is in a competitive position with foreign goods.
”Al-Tahan pointed out that“ the decline in central bank sales after the exchange rate hike is due to the presence of two types of dollars in the Iraqi market, which is the green dollar that is sold in the Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya markets and other markets, and the dollar. Which came to the market in large quantities and the blue that the central bank sells at 145 thousand dinars per 100 dollars. ”
Al-Tahan explains that“ the increase in bank sales during the last period was due to the smuggling of dollars outside Iraq in a previous period when there was a difference between the exchange rate between Iraq and the neighboring countries. Geographer. "
The central bank's sales declined during the auction conducted daily to below 10 million dollars during the past week, after it was recording sales of more than 250 million dollars before the announcement of raising the dollar exchange rate.
On the 23rd of last December, the Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq uncovered illegal, fraudulent and fraudulent operations to participate in the auction of selling currency and smuggling foreign currency outside the country.
A prejudgment, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Jamal Cougar, says: “Talking about the possibility of the Ministry of Finance achieving its goal change the exchange rate is premature because there goals have been achieved and there is damage left and therefore can not currently judge the decision of failure or success , and we have to wait. "
he adds that" raise the exchange rate of the dollarIt certainly hurt the market as the purchasing value of the dinar decreased, and we lost financial stability, even partially, "stressing that" this financial stability will return after that. "He
continues," Currently we only see its negative secretions, but its positive secretions need a longer time, and one of them is the reduction of the deficit, which is really. " What has been achieved, the second is to banish the specter of a rapid economic collapse, and this will be achieved, and the third is to support the national product, which is also achieved in some way. ”
And he adds that“ everyone should wait and that the ruling in such a hurry is not correct. ”
The Iraqi government approved last October, a white paper. It included new economic reform mechanisms and included hundreds of measures to revive the Iraqi economy.
The "white paper" extends to 100 pages, and it is assumed that its implementation period will be (3-5) years.
The first axis of the reform paper contains proposals to reduce government salaries by rates ranging from 12-25 percent, raise government support for some sectors, stop financing the retirement fund from the budget, reduce government support for public companies, collect electricity wages "according to international pricing" and increase customs wages. And taxes. " LINK
Representative Economy: Poverty Will Rise To 40% If Employees' Salaries Are Reduced
12:12 - 07/01/2021 The information / Baghdad ..Member of the Parliamentary Economic Committee, Representative Nada Shaker, confirmed, Thursday, that poverty will increase by 40% in Iraq if employees' salaries are reduced.
Shaker said in a statement to / the information /, that “reducing the salaries of simple employees in Iraq will have severe repercussions on society in general because basically their salaries are limited and cannot cover the cost of living, especially since the rise in the dollar price is the leaders of the weak purchasing power of salaries due to the high prices of all materials. Especially food. ”
Shaker added, "One of the repercussions of reducing salaries is to raise corruption rates in state departments, in addition to the high rates of divorce, drugs and terrorism, because poverty has very serious repercussions on society, considering the reduction in salaries is the dismantling of Iraqi society through its repercussions on large segments, especially the simple and the poor."
More than a week ago, the government had sent the 2021 budget to the House of Representatives, which included a clause imposing a withholding tax on employees ’salaries. https://www.almaalomah.com/2021/01/07/514164/
Economist: Confirmations Of The Recovery Of Oil Prices Require The Government To Reduce The Price Of The Dollar Against The Dinar
08:32 - 07/01/2021 Information / private The economic expert, Ihssan Al-Kinani, indicated that the recovery of oil prices and exceeding the threshold of 50 dollars a barrel makes it necessary for the government to reduce the value of the dollar against the dinar, especially since OPEC's assurances indicate that there are oil-producing countries that will increase their exports by about 75 thousand barrels.
"The government prepared the first budget in which the dollar was put at a value of 1450 dinars, while it did not reduce the price of a barrel of oil in the budget," Al-Kinani said to / Al-Maaloumah.
He added, "Oil has now exceeded the threshold of $ 50 a barrel, and there are positive indications of a gradual rise and a return to normal prices before the Corona pandemic."
And that "there are assurances from OPEC about increasing production in the coming days by the oil-exporting countries by about 75 thousand barrels, which represents a new income for Iraq that provides the government with much of the sums it must reduce the value of the dollar against the dinar in light of the recovery of oil markets and the return of life to Nature. ” https://www.almaalomah.com/2021/01/07/514117/
Agency: The Devaluation Of The Iraqi Currency Eases The Liquidity Shortage Only Temporarily
12:30 - 07/01/2021 The information / translation ...Moody's Investor Surveys for the Management of American Economic Risks confirmed in a report, Thursday, that the devaluation of the Iraqi currency will alleviate the liquidity pressures in the short term only, and that in the event that the Iraqi government does not undertake structural reforms, this reduction will be only temporary.
"Reducing the value of the Iraqi dinar will strengthen the country's financial position in the near term by increasing oil revenues in the local currency, which will help it reduce the deficit," the British newspaper The National quoted in a report translated by Al-Maaloumah.
He added that " Iraq, which is the second largest oil exporter in OPEC, depends in 90 percent of government spending on oil revenues. Most of the borrowing was by purchasing short-term US government papers, which led to the erosion of its foreign currency reserves."
He continued, “According to the institution, the Iraqi government’s revenues declined by more than 40 percent during the first ten months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, while the fiscal deficit expanded to $ 12.5 billion. The sharp decline in oil prices also weakened the current account balance of Iraq and led to a significant decrease in the Central Bank's foreign exchange reserves to $ 50.1 billion in November of 2020 from $ 63.5 billion in April 2020.
The agency stated that “the short-term impact of devaluation on Iraq's debt will be mixed. It is expected that the debt-to-GDP ratio in Iraq will increase by about two percentage points, but it will reduce the debt-to-income ratio by 6 percentage points.
And that “a depreciation of the currency is likely to lead to an increase in inflation, given that Iraq imports a lot of food and consumer goods, however, any rise in inflation carries with it the risks of political and social stability.
Moody's analysts said that “if Iraq does not implement structural reforms to reduce the size of public sector wages and pension bills, reduce energy subsidies and increase non-oil revenues, the relief provided by the devaluation may be only temporary,” noting that “if the government is unable to control Spending this year, the central bank will face pressure to devalue the dinar further, threatening an inflationary spiral.
It is noteworthy that the World Bank said earlier last year that "millions of Iraqis may be forced into poverty due to the dual shocks of the epidemic and the collapse of oil prices." The Washington-based bank said that even in the "benign scenario," about 5.5 million Iraqis could be pushed into poverty. https://www.almaalomah.com/2021/01/07/514167/
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