Thursday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 3-30-23

Al-Saadi: Oil Revenues Will Not Cover The Size Of The Budget, Especially The Investment

Today 08:44  Information / Baghdad..  The specialist in economic affairs, Muhammad Attia Al-Saadi, explained that the oil revenues will not be sufficient to cover the budget expenditures, especially the investment ones, as the government ventured with these sums.

Al-Saadi told Al-Maalouma, "The size of the investment budget prepared by the government in the general budget represents an adventure that may make investment projects ink on paper in the event of a drop in oil prices."

He added, "The operational budget carries with it large and explosive numbers of employee salary allocations," noting that "all oil revenues and other revenues do not cover the size of that operational budget."

Al-Saadi warned of the consequences of low oil prices and its impact on the government program in completing projects and addressing poverty. It happens in all countries of the world    LINK

The Dollar Opened At A New Low In The Iraqi Stock Exchange Today

2023.03.30 - 10:27    Baghdad - Nas    “NAS” publishes the exchange rates of the dollar on the Iraqi Stock Exchange, for this reason on Thursday, (March 30, 2023), according to the monitoring of specialists. 

"Nass" channel on Telegram.. our latest updates 

Baghdad - Stock Exchange:  153,300 

Price in exchange:  152,750  153,750 

The exchange rates yesterday morning on the Iraqi Stock Exchange were as follows: 

Baghdad Stock Exchange: 154,250     

Basra Stock Exchange: 154,500     

Erbil Stock Exchange: 154,600     

 https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=104739

An Economic Center Warns Of Government Decisions To Raise Fuel Prices Within The 2023 Budget

Thursday 30 March 2023 11:06 | Economical Number of readings: 274  Baghdad / NINA / - The Iraqi Political and Economic Center warned of the repercussions of imposing taxes and fees on the prices of gasoline, kerosene and refinery products within the 2023 budget, indicating that people with limited income will be the biggest losers.

There are indications that the 2023 draft budget will include a fee of 5% on the quantities of gasoline and kerosene sold to citizens, and the imposition of a 5% tax on the products of Iraqi refineries and 15% on the value of what is sold imported derivatives," said the center's director, Wissam Hammal Al-Helou, in a statement.

He added, “These taxes, through which it is intended to add 450 billion dinars to the state treasury, will add additional costs that burden the citizens and will cause an economic downturn in the country that is paid for by the private sector due to the dependence of the majority of laboratories and factories on oil derivatives, not to mention the increase in transportation for citizens, especially those with limited income costs. who depend on private transportation.”

Al-Helou pointed out that "Iraq consumes between 28-30 million liters per day of fuel, and a high amount of it is imported, and imposing a rate of 15% on each liter consumed will mean a general rise in prices ranging between 15 -20% over the current prices, to add a new burden on citizens who suffer. Among the burdens of high prices due to the greed of some merchants with the advent of the month of Ramadan, as well as the high cost of foodstuffs caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war, which affected Iraq.

And he warned that "adding such price ratios to fuel will further complicate the economic situation, with fluctuations in the exchange rate and the government's inability to control it, and the impact of this on production costs and imported materials, which clearly raised prices in the Market, which reduced the value of the Iraqi dinar, which needs deliberate decisions to return to its previous recovery. against the dollar.

Al-Helou pointed out that "the government is called upon to study its plans again and not be drawn into solutions that do not match the rentier Iraqi economy, in which spending on salaries provides liquidity in the market in light of the continuous ability to find a private sector capable of providing resources that provides additional income for citizens that increases their purchasing power as well as It enables the state to seek the help of a major partner that supports its economy.

And he stressed that “the government should consider, before issuing any decision, its repercussions on people with limited incomes, and not implement plans that target groups that it considers to have high purchasing power, while previous experiences confirm that the poor citizen is the biggest.” loser." LINK

The Markets Of Baghdad And Kurdistan Are Closing Down At Dollar Prices

Today, Wednesday, the exchange rates of the US dollar fell against the Iraqi dinar, with the closure of the main stock exchange in Baghdad and Erbil.

An informed source said that the central Kifah Stock Exchange in Baghdad closed this evening at an exchange rate of 153,000 dinars for every 100 dollars, while the prices this morning were 154,200 dinars.

The source indicated that the buying and selling prices in exchange shops in the local markets in Baghdad decreased, as the selling price reached 154,000 dinars, while the purchase price reached 152,000 dinars for every 100 dollars.

In Erbil, the dollar also recorded a decrease, as the selling price reached 153,500 dinars, and the purchase price was 152,500 dinars, compared to 100 dollars. https://takadum-news.com/archives/156886

Deputy For The Framework: Parliamentary Agreement To Return The Budget To The Government

Policy  |Yesterday, 22:12   Baghdad today – Baghdad  The representative of the coordination framework, Intisar al-Mousawi, revealed the existence of a parliamentary agreement to return the financial budget for the current year 2023 to the government and not to proceed with its reading.

Al-Moussawi told (Baghdad Today) that: "The government cannot exclude the parliament's work. It is not correct to legislate the budget law for three years and keep the parliament without clear work because the budget is one of its most important annual works."

She added, "The budget will return to the government because it has some shortcomings, and we will wait for it to be returned to parliament as an annual budget."

It is noteworthy that the Council of Ministers, on March 13, approved the draft federal budget law for the years 2023-2024-2025 at once and referred it to the House of Representatives for passage, in a precedent that is the first of its kind in the country’s history.

On the 16th of this month, the House of Representatives received the draft budget law.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’a al-Sudani justified the approval of three financial budgets at once, contrary to what is customary, that it was in order to “support financial stability,” adding that the one-year budget approached 198 trillion dinars (140 billion dollars, given that the price of the dollar is 1320 dinars). , and it will iterate based on the variables.

According to Al-Sudani, the total revenues of the financial budget for one year amounted to more than 134 trillion dinars, of which 117 trillion dinars were made from oil revenues, while the largest budget deficit in the country’s history amounted to 63 trillion dinars.   LINK

Parliamentary Finance Reveals The Reasons For The Delay In Reading The 2023 Budget

Economy  |Today, 10:18  Baghdad today – Baghdad   Today, Thursday, the Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed the reason for the delay in discussing the draft financial budget law in previous parliament sessions.

Committee member Mustafa Al-Karawi told (Baghdad Today) that "the House of Representatives was preoccupied during the previous sessions with the election law, especially the disputes over it, and some sessions were without a quorum due to disputes over the law, and for this reason the budget law was not put forward for discussion and first reading."

Al-Karawi said, "The Presidency of the House of Representatives will set a session during the next week, with the aim of discussing the budget law."

He stressed that "the parliament's vote on the budget needs time, as the law needs study, review, and lengthy discussions, and for this reason, its approval may be after Eid al-Fitr."

On March 16, 2023, Parliament received the draft federal budget law, after it was approved by the Council of Ministers on March 13.

The total budget is more than 197 trillion dinars, the operational budget is more than 150 trillion dinars, and the investment budget is more than 47 trillion, while the deficit amounted to 63 trillion dinars. LINK

The Central Bank Of Iraq Sets Measures To Support The Dinar And Comments On The Drop In Exchange Rates Today

2023.03.30 - 11:10   Baghdad - people   On Thursday, the Central Bank of Iraq identified four measures to support the strength of the Iraqi dinar, and while confirming that its packages met most of the market's requests and contributed to the decline of the dollar, it announced that it would address the problem of contracting in dollars for some departments. 

  "Nass" channel on Telegram.. our latest updates  The assistant general manager of the investment department in the bank, Muhammad Yunus, said in a statement to the official agency, followed by “NAS”, (March 30, 2023), that “the central bank has taken a group of packages to support the process of strengthening the Iraqi dinar, enhancing external transfer, financing trade, study, and others,” indicating, “that” Signs of these firmnesses on the strength of the Iraqi dinar began to appear today. 

Younis added, "The dollar began to decline continuously against the dinar as a result of these packages that met most of the Iraqi market's requests," noting that "this contributed to reducing the difference between the official and parallel exchange rate." 

  And that "Iraq is an importer of everything, and therefore the large volume of its demand for the dollar makes it sometimes strong against the dinar," noting that "the central bank's actions are supported by the decisions of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers." 

 And he stressed, "The need for all efforts to join forces to support the strength of the dinar through measures represented first by supporting the local product, secondly by reducing import operations, third by controlling markets, and fourth by controlling border crossings," noting that "most markets have started dealing in the Iraqi dinar, and this will contribute to its support." 

 He pointed out that "some departments faced a problem because their contracts are in dollars, but the Council of Ministers and the Central Bank began to solve these problems," stressing that "Iraq has more than 130 tons of gold."     https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=104743