Some “Iraq News” Posted by Clare at KTFA 4-20-2025
KTFA
Clare: Al-Sudani congratulates Christians on Easter: May you have good health, safety and peace every year.
4/20/2025 Baghdad –
"We care about the precious diversity of our homeland."
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani congratulated Christians on Easter Sunday, affirming the government's interest in and support for diversity, which he said represents a source of strength and social and cultural richness. LINK
Clare: The Central Bank launches the virtual bank project.
The Central Bank of Iraq announces its adoption of a project to launch a virtual bank in Iraqi universities. This is the first virtual bank to be established in an Iraqi university. The first phase will be held at Al-Muthanna University, which hosted a comprehensive exhibition held on the sidelines of the second scientific conference "Artificial Intelligence and Labor Market Requirements."
The conference was organized by the University's College of Administration and Economics, in cooperation with Mansoura University of Egypt, the Central Bank of Iraq, the Muthanna Chamber of Commerce, and the Muthanna Chamber of Industry.
The exhibition included pavilions representing a group of banks and companies, as well as displays of fine art and heritage.
The virtual bank project aims to provide students and graduates with practical experience in banking, preparing them to develop human resources capable of meeting the needs of financial institutions. It also aims to provide students with practical experience by simulating the work of financial institutions and adopting international best practices.
It also aims to encourage financial institutions operating in Iraq to access and expand financial services to all geographical regions of Iraq, with the aim of strengthening financial inclusion plans.
Central Bank of Iraq
Media Office
April 20, 2025
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Clare: Baghdad and Erbil are discussing with foreign companies a mechanism for resuming the region's oil exports.
4/20/2025 Baghdad
An informed source revealed on Saturday that a tripartite meeting was held in Erbil, bringing together representatives of the federal government, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and foreign oil companies operating in the region, to discuss a mechanism for resuming Kurdistan's oil exports.
The source told Al-Ahed News, "The meeting addressed the activities of oil investment companies, discussed ways to resume oil exports from the region, and listened to the views of production companies regarding the next steps."
He added, "The meeting witnessed an extensive discussion of the technical and logistical challenges hindering the resumption of exports, and the importance of coordination between all parties was emphasized to ensure positive outcomes that serve the country's interests."
It is noteworthy that a meeting scheduled to be held last Saturday in the capital, Baghdad, between the federal Ministry of Oil, the Ministry of Natural Resources in the regional government, and the Kurdistan Oil Industries Union (APIKUR), was postponed for reasons yet to be revealed. LINK
Clare: Al-Sudani directs a re-evaluation of the oil licensing rounds in Iraq.
4/20/2025
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani directed, on Sunday, the need to re-evaluate the licensing rounds experience 15 years after their launch, stressing the need to work to remove obstacles facing investors in the oil and gas sector.
This came after he chaired a meeting with representatives of major foreign oil companies operating in Iraq, attended by the Minister of Oil, relevant authorities within the ministry, the Board of Supreme Audit, the General Tax Authority, and the Employment Department at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, according to a statement issued by the Iraqi government.
The statement noted that the meeting, the second of its kind, discussed several issues, most notably the mechanism for stopping gas flaring and its investment, the water injection strategy, and the growth of investment in the oil sector, in addition to work permits and social security.
Al-Sudani directed the need to address the obstacles impeding project implementation, stressing that the partnership with companies in this regard is strategic and represents a government priority in maintaining and increasing production rates.
The Prime Minister emphasized the goal of developing production and raising the efficiency of oil reservoir management by introducing modern technology, improving facility performance, and ending the flaring of associated gas. He also emphasized the importance of achieving optimal utilization of this gas, whether in operating power plants or supporting vital industries such as petrochemicals, fertilizers, iron, and steel.
Al-Sudani also noted that the government is working to improve the operating environment for oil companies, enhance security at various sites and facilities, and develop infrastructure. He explained that the government is looking to enter into a long-term partnership with oil companies to ensure optimal use of oil and gas resources in a way that benefits the people and achieves development goals. LINK
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Clare: Prime Minister's Advisor: The annual deficit set in the three-year budget is precautionary.
4/20/2025- Baghdad
Advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, confirmed on Sunday that the annual deficit set in the three-year budget is precautionary and within maximum spending limits. He explained that the three-year budget is based on a preventative philosophy to achieve economic and social goals without risks.
“The amended federal general budget, which was legislated under Law No. 13 of 2023 (the three-year budget), is proceeding in its financial measures within what is called the financial scope or fiscal space, which is a realistic and preventive philosophy based on the principle of using the financial flexibility available to the public finances to adjust its policies in arranging its priorities (such as public spending, taxes, or support levels),” said the Prime Minister’s advisor, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, in an interview with the Iraqi News Agency, followed by “Al-Eqtisad News.”
He pointed out that “this is in order to achieve economic and social goals, without causing major risks to financial stability or excessive increases in public debt.”
Saleh noted that "the aforementioned three-year general budget law, supported by the current amended Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019, undoubtedly provides the ability to address the set deficit limits with the minimum possible amount of money," indicating that "this is what public spending has followed during the first quarter of fiscal year 2025."
Saleh explained that "although the annual deficit recorded in the three-year budget is 64 trillion dinars, it is a precautionary deficit that was drawn and calculated within the maximum spending limits of 200 trillion dinars, and the export prices of a barrel of crude oil at an annual average of about $70, and exported quantities of about 3.4 million barrels of crude oil per day," noting that "the budget implemented in the fiscal year 2024 was with a comfortable ceiling that did not exceed 156 trillion dinars, with partial borrowings from the domestic financial market that also did not exceed less than half of the ceiling set for borrowing to cover the deficit, and with an average barrel of oil that was $75 per exported barrel."
He continued: "What we need today, in light of the fluctuations in the global oil market, the decline in the oil asset cycle and the expectations surrounding it, requires a review and high discipline in examining expenditures in general and operating expenditures in particular, and accurately controlling their paths and resorting to what is called a budget of sufficiency with the minimum level of expenditure while maximizing financial resources in a manner commensurate with the total expenditure that meets the basic needs of the national economy within the financial space, such as the importance of securing salaries, wages, pensions and social care as a first priority, in addition to agricultural support."
He added that "working to involve the private sector in and finance development projects is a testing opportunity to prove the role of the partnership between the state and the private sector in supporting development and demonstrating the role of the partnership philosophy in overcoming the economic challenges imposed by energy markets as an external international factor on the total economic activity."
He stressed that "the 2025 budget tables being prepared and presented to the House of Representatives must reflect the current conditions in the international economy, whether in terms of international trade protectionist wars or the cautious price fluctuations facing energy markets that affect the financial budgets of the OPEC+ group of countries, including our country, during the current year, in light of cautious global geopolitical and economic fluctuations that have not yet stabilized." LINK
