Saturday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 6-17-23

Parliamentary Finance: The Budget Will Be Implemented Within The Next Two Weeks

Information/Baghdad..  A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mueen Al-Kazemi, confirmed, on Saturday, that the budget law will soon be published in the Official Gazette after it was referred to the President of the Republic, indicating that the law will be effective within 15 days. days of its passage.

 Al-Kazemi said, in a statement to Al-Maalouma, that "the Finance Committee, two days ago, sent the budget law to the Presidency of the Republic for the purpose of approving it," noting that "the law will be approved within 5 to 15 days.”

He added, "All political forces are unanimous not to go to the Federal Supreme Court to challenge the budget law, especially the articles related to Kurdistan, as they are constitutional and fair."

Al-Kazemi indicated, "The implementation of the law will lead to an urban and service revolution in the country because the government has promised plans for the next three years."

While the Parliamentary Strategic Planning Committee confirmed earlier, its intention is to monitor government performance and implement all budget items after their approval.

The deputy head of the committee, Muhammad Karim, said in a statement to Al-Maalouma, that "a directive was issued by the committee's presidency to monitor and evaluate the ministerial program directly and continuously by following up on the implementation and disbursement of the federal budget." funds according to the allocation to avoid wasting it.” Ended 25   LINK

Alsumaria Publishes The Procedures For Appealing The Budget Law And The Approval Of The President Of The Republic

Policy   2023-06-17 | 02:13  3,570 views   Alsumaria News – Politics  Legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi identified, today, Saturday, June 17, 2023, the parties that have the right to challenge the Federal Budget Law, indicating that in the event that it is not approved by the President of the Republic, it is considered approved after 15 days from the date of its receipt from before the presidency.

Al-Tamimi said in an interview with Al-Sumaria News, “After the Iraqi parliament voted on the budget law, it was sent to the Presidency of the Republic for the purpose of ratification by the President of the Republic in accordance with Article 73 III of the Iraqi Constitution. The date it was received by the Presidency of the Republic.

He added, "After being approved by the President of the Republic, it is sent by the Presidency of the Republic to the Ministry of Justice for the purpose of publishing it in the Official Gazette, i.e. the facts, according to Law 78 of 1977, the law of publication in the Iraqi Gazette, and when it is published, it is a law that must be applied, followed, and implemented."

The legal expert also clarified that “the appeal against the articles of the Budget Law shall be within a period of 30 days from the date of publication, meaning that the period of appeal that is submitted to the court is within 30 days from the date of its publication in the facts, and no appeal is accepted after this period, which is stipulated in Article 22 of the system.”

The internal procedure of the Federal Supreme Court  No. 1 of 2022, and this article required the Federal Supreme Court  to decide on the appeal within 30 days from the date of its submission, unless otherwise required.

And he continued, "The parties that have the right to challenge the Federal Budget Law are as follows: the three authorities, ministries, the prime minister of the region, and bodies not associated with the ministry and governors, as Article 19 of the Federal Supreme Court  system above says," noting that "the request is submitted to the court by a letter signed by the president The concerned authority and that the contested text is related to the tasks of those authorities or has implications and differences in application.

After a difficult labor that extended for months, the Iraqi parliament voted on the country's general financial budget for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025 after a series of sessions held by the Council, which began last Thursday, June 8, 2023, and extended until the early hours of Monday, June 12, 2023.

The recent parliament sessions witnessed an unprecedented debate between the political blocs, especially after the Kurdistan Democratic Party  refused to proceed with voting on some paragraphs of the budget, before the two parties reached a compromise agreement that guarantees the continuation of the political agreement that led to the formation of the State Administration Alliance  and the formation of the government of the current Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani  .

The sessions also witnessed sharp interactions between deputies from various governorates due to differences related to the governorates' financial allocations, development funds, and the creation of job grades in the public sector, with Parliament's refusal to approve imposing a tax on fuel prices and communications. LINK

Iraq Plans To Join World Trade Organization

Amr Salem  The headquarters of the Iraqi Ministry of Trade. Photo: Al-Arabiya News

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Ministry of Trade revealed on Thursday that the government is planning to complete the requirements for Iraq’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), indicating that financial contributions to the WTO have been settled.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Trade illustrated that work is underway to complete the requirements for joining the WTO, especially in terms of goods, services, the agricultural issue, and the modernization of the customs system.

Coordination has been ongoing with the General Authority of Customs to complete the modernization of the customs system and finalize the Tariff Law to be able to join the WTO, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

Coordination is also underway with the Iraqi private sector and the Kurdistan region of Iraq to unify the visions related to the requirements for Iraq’s accession to the WTO.

The Iraqi Ministry of Trade mentioned last January that the committee concerned with Iraq’s accession to the WTO, headed by the Minister of Trade and consisting of representatives of ministries, agencies, and the private sector, is working to have the requirements for Iraq’s accession to the organization completed.

The ministry added that its plan includes holding official meetings at the WTO’s headquarters in Geneva and coordinating with the member states to mobilize support and speed up accession procedures to make Iraq an active member and partner in economic decisions and trade policies that would enhance Iraq’s integration into the global economy.

https://www.iraqinews.com/iraq/iraq-plans-to-join-world-trade-organization/

Parliamentary Oil: We Are Working To Prepare The Appropriate Ground For Approving The Oil And Gas Law Soon

Baghdad - Awareness - Nassar Al-Hajj   The Parliamentary Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee confirmed today, Saturday, that the road has become a paved way for the approval of broken laws, the most important of which is the oil and gas law, while it revealed the existence of some obstacles to the legislation of the law.

Committee member Zainab Juma al-Moussawi told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "after approving the financial budget for the years (2023-2024-2025), the road is now paved for the approval of suspended laws from previous parliamentary sessions, the most important of which is the oil and gas law, which will draw the oil map in Iraq and solve the problems between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government and guarantee the rights of both parties.

Al-Moussawi added, "The Oil and Gas Committee is working to prepare the appropriate ground for approving the law very soon," revealing "the presence of political interference working to obstruct the legislation of this law within the House of Representatives."

And she stressed that "there are political forces that do not want to solve the Iraqi economic problems," noting that "the Oil and Gas Committee is working hard to remove obstacles and resolve differences between the governments of Baghdad and Erbil."   https://www.ina.iq/187671--.html

Iraq Reduces Its Holdings Of US Bonds By $4.5 Billion

2023-06-17   Shafaq News/ The US Treasury announced, on Saturday, that Iraq's possession of US bonds decreased for the third month in a row, to reach about $35 billion.

The treasury stated in its latest table, seen by Shafaq News agency, that "Iraq's possession of US Treasury bonds for the month of April of 2023 decreased by 4.5 billion dollars, to reach 34.8 billion dollars, after it was 39.3 billion dollars during the previous month," indicating that "this Bonds rose by 18.6% over the same month of 2022, when Iraq's possession of bonds amounted to $28.3 billion.

In the Arab world, Saudi Arabia comes at the forefront of the countries with the most possession, amounting to 113.3 billion dollars, and the UAE comes second with 70.2 billion dollars, then Kuwait comes third with 41.4 billion dollars, then Iraq fourth and Oman fifth with 7.061 billion dollars.

She pointed out that "the most holders of US bonds are Japan with 1127.2 trillion dollars, followed by China with 868.9 billion dollars, followed by the United Kingdom with 680.7 billion dollars, and then Belgium with 336.6 billion dollars."  LINK

The Visit Of The Emir Of Qatar Will Have A Great Impact On Iraq

The first  2023/06/17    Baghdad: Shaima Rashid   Economic analysts stated that the visit of the Emir of the State of Qatar to Baghdad will have an important economic impact in the future in Iraq, especially since Qatar is a country with an important influence in the region and will revive the investment market, in addition to the role that Doha can play in resolving the water issue between Iraq and Turkey.

Economic analyst Mahmoud Dagher said in an interview with "Al-Sabah": "The mere visit of the leader of a country with great regional influence to Iraq will have an economic impact, and Qatar is the second or third country in the world in gas production, and Iraq needs an alternative to Iranian gas, and it also owns companies that can That Iraq participate in obtaining gas from its lands.

He added, "Extending the Qatari pipeline to Europe - as a strategic project - could constitute important beginnings for Iraq in the process of developing economic growth, distributing economic activity, and benefiting from the transit fees from this pipeline linking Qatar and Europe, especially after the problems that Europe faced with Russian gas." .

He added, "The State of Qatar is a major player in the region, despite being a small country, but it can support Iraq and play an appropriate role in influencing Turkey on the issue of water in Iraq, and this follows the ability of the Iraqi negotiator and the tools he has that he can use with Qatar and Turkey." In addition, economic expert Hazem Hadi explained the importance of the visit of the Emir of the State of Qatar to Baghdad, especially in the matter of investment and development, which will help revive this field in the country and give confidence to other countries to enter the Iraqi arena. https://alsabaah.iq/79156-.html

The Role Of Unconventional Monetary Policy From The Central Bank In Partial Compensation For The Imbalance Of Macro Policy

Dr.. Haitham Hamid Mutlaq Al-Mansour    With the deepening of the phenomenon of inflationary stagnation, the trends in the developmental practice of central banks escalated, and the importance of monetary policy in its modern concept crystallized in its focus on creating the necessary flexibility to formulate strategic targeting in order to stimulate growth and achieve financial and monetary stability.

The college aims to stimulate activity to influence the economic cycle, reallocate and distribute income in a manner consistent with economic and social stimulation and support in a vision supported by international experiences, and towards the following two axes:

 Emphasis on the role of traditional policies, the interest rate and the exchange rate in facing inflation and limiting the negative effects of the rise in the general level of prices.

Entering into an unconventional policy to stimulate growth and achieve financial and monetary stability, balance between economic development, and give stimulants to the economy.

The need for coordination between traditional and non-traditional monetary policy.

 Since the direction of the central bank's policy to build international partnerships since 2015 with major development institutions such as the German Agency for International Cooperation (giz), for example, to meet the needs and priorities of actual financing for small and medium enterprises in Iraq.

Therefore, the Central Bank Governor, Dr. Ali Al-Alaq, announced the national lending strategy, which will see the light early next year 2024, to reveal the establishment of the Riyada Bank, which will represent the banking infrastructure for financing small and medium enterprises, with more than 12 billion dollars, which is distributed among the development of small projects medium, housing loans, renewable energy and other economic projects, in the agricultural, industrial and service fields, as they contribute 30% of the total credit to the private sector.

It aims to facilitate bank lending in its various forms, which leads to creating a close relationship between the central bank’s policy tools Unconventional and its ultimate objectives, in the sense of strengthening the mechanism of transmission of the impact of unconventional monetary policy to the aggregate activity by raising the levels of aggregate supply compensating for import, especially in the targeted activities in the services sector, industry and agriculture to activate aggregate demand in the income loop.

 In light of the developmental support policies to stimulate the economy out of recession, the new policy is expected to target expansion in granting loans and granting facilities in light of the agreement with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank within the non-financial development program that targets technical and advisory support for economic reform adopted by the Iraqi government. Especially after the US Treasury showed flexibility and readiness last April to assist the Central Bank of Iraq and Iraqi finance in achieving the strategic goals of the macroeconomic policy.

Therefore, it is in the interest of the developing Iraqi economy to stimulate short and medium-term investment and link it to long-term investment ranges by pumping investment loans according to an expansionary monetary policy with specific economic and social goals, given that the problem of the Iraqi economy lies in the low levels of growth of non-oil GDP due to the sharp decline in The flexibility of the real sector and the inefficiency of the financial and monetary markets.

Evaluating the benefit from the monetary expansion policy that supports the government's reform intervention program in order to push the economy on the path of growth and stability, can only be achieved after diagnosing a four-objective vision necessary for the success of the government reform program and the effectiveness of the non-traditional policy of the Central Bank, as follows:

Ensuring that the goals of the financing policy are in the path of developing local productive capacity in the targeted sectors, which reduces the impact of the macro policy imbalance and increases the flexibility of non-oil GDP, which reduces government spending and reduces the overall inflationary pressure to the same extent.

Linking the economic indicators of the aforementioned strategy using general objectives through its overall indicators of non-oil output, economic growth, employment, inflation, stability, growth and private capital accumulation, as well as moving the financial and money markets.

Ensuring the productivity of the funds granted to the private banking sector and ensuring its close relationship with the use of those funds to meet the investment requirements in its production and service branches that are closely linked with long-term projects, in order to focus investment channels in accordance with the requirements of growth and development.

Banking management circles and administrative referral joints for small and medium projects and all their money have a negative impact on the strength of implementation, whether the duration of project completion or its productivity. 52 views  06/17/2023 - https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=34780