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Samson:  The International Development Bank joins the Federation of Emirates Banks in Dubai

7th August, 2022

A banking source revealed, on Sunday, that the International Development Bank of Iraq joined the Federation of Emirates Banks in Dubai

The source told "Economy News" that "the International Development Bank opened a branch in the emirate of Dubai, UAE," noting that "the bank joined the Federation of Emirates Banks

He added, "The bank will facilitate trade and banking exchange between Iraq and the UAE, as well as provide various banking services and establish activities related to the banking sector between the two countries  LINK

Samson:  The Chinese "Petrojaina" threatens to leave southern Iraq due to the demonstrations .. Video

7th August, 2022

Today, Sunday, the Chinese "Petrogyna" company threatened to withdraw from Maysan Governorate, southern Iraq, if the demonstrations continued from the surrounding areas, threatening the safety and security of its cadres, noting that the demands of the demonstrators are not within its competence.

An informed source told Shafaq News Agency, "The company's management threatened to stop its work in Maysan and withdraw from the province and go to another province, or withdraw completely outside Iraq, because of the protesters' threat to the security and safety of its cadres." 

And the source indicated, "The company's withdrawal means Iraq losing 500,000 barrels of production per day from the Maysan oil fields, as well as losing more than 5,000 people working in it and turning them into unemployed."

The source continued, "The protesters from the residents of Al-Kahla are demanding the company's management to provide them with electricity and drinking water, which is not within its competence," pointing out that "releasing job grades in excess of what was employed earlier are matters that the company rejected completely."

A video clip published below by Shafaq News Agency showed dozens of protesters attempting to storm the company's headquarters in Maysan Governorate, while the security forces responded with bullets in the air to disperse the protesters.

This morning, the security forces closed the "Ali Al-Zaki" bridge in the Al-Kahla district of Maysan province, the bridge leading to the Chinese company, to prevent the demonstrators from reaching the company.

VIDEO LINK   LINK

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Samson:  Economist: $15 billion loss for Iraq from changing the exchange rate and storing hard currency

08/07/2022 18:27:19

The economic expert Duraid Al-Enezi explained, on Sunday, that Iraq's loss from changing the exchange rate and storing hard currency amounted to 15 billion dollars.

Al-Enezi said in an exclusive interview with {Euphrates News} that “the central bank storing any currency or metal leads to loss, because the dollar and the euro are exposed to material losses while gold prices are witnessing fluctuations, as well as fluctuations in oil prices, so that is the best solution to maintain the cash surplus. The current oil revenues are being thrown into investment projects, because storage in all cases is subject to a rise and a fall.

And he added, "Iraq lost, from the first days of the oil price hike, about 15 billion dollars, as a result of storing hard currency from the dollar and not benefiting from it." 

It is reported that the Central Bank of Iraq decided on January 19, 2021 to make a significant change in the dollar exchange rate, as follows:

1450 dinars per dollar, the purchase price of foreign currency from the Ministry of Finance.

1460 dinars per dollar, the price of selling foreign currency to banks.

1470 dinars per dollar, the price of selling foreign currency to the public.

The Central Bank's decision caused a rise in prices for foodstuffs, consumer goods and commodities, which negatively impacted the standard of living of citizens and exacerbated unemployment.

Adviser to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, said on June 27 about the possibility of changing the dollar exchange rate: “Everything is possible, but we need patience in changing the dollar exchange rate in case prices rise and the financial policy is unable and monetary policy is able to cover the dinar.” To "the Food Security Law, if it is not able to secure the requirements in the event of high prices, the Central Bank will intervene to preserve the strength of the dinar against the dollar."  LINK

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Samson:  Dust storms cause Iraq to lose one trillion dinars this year

7th August, 2022

The Ministry of Environment revealed, on Sunday, that the number of days of dust storms that struck Iraq during the months of this year has reached 100 days, causing economic losses that "exceeded 10 billion dinars for each day."

The Minister of Environment, Jassem Al-Falahi, said that "the most prominent challenges facing the country are climate changes, which have become a major threat to the environmental reality, and among those changes are dust storms that were recorded during the past months of this year, which amounted to 100 days, causing economic losses of ten Billions of dinars for every stormy day.

Al-Falahi pointed to the importance of having future plans to exploit one billion dinars of those billions that are losing to create windbreaks, soil stabilizers and green belts, referring to drought, lack of water resources, decreasing rainfall rates, increasing land degradation and expanding desertification areas, challenges that threaten the country's food and environmental security.

According to the official "Al-Sabah" newspaper. He added, "The biggest challenge to climate change facing the country is the shortage of energy sources, which is linked to the abundance of water storage to operate the system of energy sources gates, as well as the increase in evaporation rates that led to the loss of about 25 to 30 percent of the country's water assets."

The Minister of Environment noted that “high temperatures require more use of energy sources, and therefore there must be a tendency to use renewable, clean and sustainable energies, which the Ministry seeks to achieve through coordination with the concerned authorities to approve the implementation of projects that reduce the use or waste of energy sources in the country.”  LINK

Samson:  Iraq achieves a major global leap in gold reserves

08/07/2022 09:35:49

 Iraq rose 10 ranks among the countries with the most gold in the world, according to the latest report of the World Gold Council, issued today, Sunday.

In its latest schedule for the month of August, the council said, "According to Iraq's large purchases of 34 tons, the latter rose ten ranks to rank 30 out of the 100 countries listed in the table with the largest gold reserves, reaching 130.4 tons of gold, which represents 11.5% of his other precautions. He explained that "Iraq has become the fourth largest Arab gold reserve after it was the sixth, surpassing Egypt and Libya, which ranked fifth and sixth, respectively."

He pointed out that "international central banks added 111.19 net tons to global gold reserves," noting that "the bulk of the rise resulted from purchases from Iraq (33.97 tons), while Turkey continued to buy by (26.60) tons, and Uzbekistan bought (26.44). tons, Kazakhstan (15.79) tons, and India (8.39) tons. He added that "Germany was the biggest seller this month, as it sold 3.36 tons of gold, followed by Mongolia (0.80) tons, followed by the UAE (0.27) tons.

Globally, the United States of America still leads the rest of the countries with the largest gold possession in the world, at 8,133 tons, followed by Germany, 3.355 tons, then Italy, 2,451 tons, while Laos ranked 100, with 0.9 tons, preceded by the Republic of Cape Verde with one ton.

On June 27, Iraq announced the purchase of new quantities of gold, amounting to approximately (34) tons, an increase of 35% over what was in its possession.  LINK

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Samson:  The central bank's prudential policy to face the global economic crisis

7th August, 2022 by Samir Al-Nusairi

The global economic system has been witnessing complex economic, financial and security crises for several months, the cumulative causes of which were concentrated in the rise in energy and food prices due to the Russian-Ukrainian war and the American and European sanctions on Russia, which led to confusion in the map of global trade in food and energy.

What we are following now is the rise in stagflation in most countries of the world, most notably in America and the European Union

Although Iraq may be benefiting from the rise in oil prices as it is the main resource for the country, and the map of its imports of grain and foodstuffs currently is from outside the area of ​​the military conflict and economic crisis, but our economy must suffer in the short term from the lack of control over food supplies and oil prices may drop and spread economic stagnation in the light of changing conditions and these effects will inevitably lead to a rise in the rate of inflation and a rise in the general level of prices

Since economic stability is achieved by stability in the financial system and the monetary system, so the hedging measures by the Central Bank, for what is expected of developments in the coming crises, were to rely mainly on building foreign reserves at a level that covers the local currency in circulation, imports, repayments of foreign debt and other international obligations

As well as working on diversifying the reserves to include a basket of currencies, gold, bonds and securities, and making the most of the rise in oil prices to increase the reserves to the maximum extent possible until the end of 2022

 And this is actually what the Central Bank has done during this period, as its foreign cash reserves amounted to more than 74 billion dollars and 130 tons of gold. The reserve is expected at the end of 2022 to reach $90 billion

This confirms that the Central Bank is proceeding at a steady pace to achieve the objectives of monetary policy in reducing inflation and controlling the general level of prices as well as controlling the money supply and maintaining the dinar exchange rate within the target price for the public and following up and analyzing the interest rate set by the Central Bank on an ongoing basis

This requires the financial policy and the main economic sectors and the ministries responsible for them must work jointly and in clear and specific coordination with the Central Bank administration to achieve economic stability and overcome the global economic crisis and limit its repercussions   LINK