"Tidbits From TNT" Thursday Morning 2-16-2023

TNT:

Tishwash:  There is no dollar except in the alleys, and the price is black": speculation that will "raise" food prices

The head of the Diyala Chamber of Commerce, Muhammad Mulla Jawad, revealed today, Thursday, that the sale of the dollar in the exchange offices in the province has stopped and that it is satisfied with buying according to the official price, "then selling it at black market prices in the alleys to avoid censorship."

Mulla Jawad told (Baghdad Today) that "all exchange offices in Diyala never sell dollars, but they buy them at the central bank's rate of 130,000 dinars for every 100 dollars."

He added, "Obtaining dollars has become somewhat complicated, and sales to citizens take place in the alleys at prices ranging between 152-154 thousand dinars per 100 dollars, which makes a large difference between the selling price and the purchase price."

The head of the Chamber of Commerce in Diyala said, "These speculations occur due to the lack of sufficient liquidity to cover the daily needs of internal trade, which relies on the dollar by up to 75% to pay commercial dues."

He pointed out that this "will lead to a further rise in the prices of basic commodities, especially foodstuffs."

He pointed out, "The need for state companies specialized in importing foodstuffs to intervene by moving to the top of the leadership in importing materials, feeding the Iraqi markets, and securing the needs of merchants through selling in dinars."

He believed that "this may lead to a reduction in the demand for the dollar by up to 40% at least, thus stabilizing the prices of the currency market and ending the case of speculation."

Earlier today, the intelligence agency announced the arrest of a "currency smuggler in possession of $158,000."

Yesterday, the intelligence agency announced the arrest of 18 people on charges of manipulating exchange rates and seizing about 800 million dinars and 385 thousand dollars in their possession.

The agency closed exchange and money transfer offices that do not have licenses, and a security force launched a campaign of arrests in Ramadi against dollar traffickers  link

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RVAlready:  Hopefully, Iraq still wants to get this done ASAP.

KMan:  Ramadan 2023 begins at sunset on Wednesday, March 22 and ends on Saturday, April 20

RVAlready:  Hopefully the RV hits long before Ramadan.

CharlieOK:  Historically, all Ramadan has meant as it relates to the rv, is that nothing is going to happen. Period. End of story.

Yada:  Dont believe that will be true this time arouind. The reason nothing happened before was the politicians used that time to delay on purpose. This time around, this is beyond Iraq's ability to stop the process. It has already reached international boundries and the central banks are positioned to receive the release.

Yada:  Charlie, have to look at this as they are lowering the heat in Iraq to match the increased heat in the international markets. Like fitting flexible joints to connect at the right point and we are moments away.

CharlieOK:  I agree with your thinking, yada. And we have plenty of time before the arrival of the R word to get this done. R is a religious scenario that is very powerful in the ME. Business just stops.

BabysMom:  Work still gets done during the day during Ramadan. The country does not shut down. Lol. Certain days are more holy than the others

Annie68:  It's business as usual during Ramadan.....They fast during the day and have meal time in the evening.

MountainMole:  If this requires 3 day weekend in the US then this weekend provides the additional day due to Presidents Day.

Yada:  I dont think so Mountain Mole,,,again, this is international,,our holidays don't coicide with the worlds. And besides our banks are closed on 3 day weekend so I'm expecting Iraq to release 1000 to $1 and like a wave, banks will adjust as the markets open.

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CandyKisses:  "Most of the currency smuggling operations from Iraq are carried out in cash"

Baghdad Today - Follow-up

On Thursday, the Qatari website "Al Jazeera Net" addressed the capabilities of the Iraqi government in combating money laundering, and several steps have been taken recently and the extent of its ability to end foreign currency smuggling.

The website said, in a report followed by (Baghdad Today), that Iraq's movements have recently increased at the economic level of optimism that it can succeed in combating money laundering and terrorist financing, or reduce them to lower levels than it was after they worsened significantly after 2003, especially with its link to "political corruption" through banking sector reforms.

He added that one of these positive steps is Iraq's recent accession to the membership of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, to enhance efforts to combat corruption and money laundering.

The report pointed out that the group includes 167 countries, and works to facilitate the exchange of information on criminal records, money laundering and terrorist financing at the international level, by providing the office with a secure communication network with countries of the world, which contributes to following up the movement of funds internationally and strengthening financial investigation procedures, leading to the recovery of funds and assets.

He pointed out that Iraq's recent moves came after its local currency reached the brink of collapse by reaching its lowest record level against the dollar in 18 years, and its decline to about 1700,1300 dinars against the dollar in informal market exchanges earlier this month, due to the US sanctions imposed on it, which prompted the government of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani to take an urgent decision to raise the value of the dinar to 2023 against the dollar and adopt it in the financial budget for the current year <>.

Government optimism

Optimistic that Iraq will join the group, Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, economic adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister, acknowledges that the country is in dire need of Egmont membership.

"It is an international network that works to enhance communication and interaction between the world's financial intelligence units, which are represented at the national level by the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Office," he said.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq chairs the Supreme Committee for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Funds, which issues the relevant regulations and instructions, based on the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Law, which Iraq adopted in 2015.

According to Saleh's interview with Al Jazeera Net, strengthening cooperation ties between Baghdad and international compliance institutions requires that Iraq be an active member of "Egmont" to create better international cooperation for the benefit of the country and the world in combating money laundering and related activities.

Iraq has been an active member of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Organization (MENAFATF) since 2004, which qualifies it, according to Saleh, to join the international group "Egmont" related and effective in combating money laundering.

Before 2003, Iraq did not know much about money laundering operations, which began to intensify after the US occupation, and reached very high levels, especially with their association with "illegal" activities that contributed to smuggling money outside the borders to launder it and return it again in a "legitimate form" such as real estate or other property collectibles such as gold.

On the ground, Iraq's first steps to curb this phenomenon came through the establishment of the Anti-Money Laundering Office in April 2007, whose tasks are to collect and analyze information related to financial transactions, and to create channels of cooperation and interaction with relevant local and international bodies to combat them.

Iraq's losses

Money laundering consumed much of Iraq's financial imports throughout the post-2003 years, but the scandal known as the "Theft of the Century", which illegally squandered $2.5 billion from an Iraqi government bank account and laundered through private banks, is the country's largest case of corruption through money laundering.

According to previous annual reports, international and domestic remittances were one of the most used tools for money laundering in 2019, 2020 and 2021. These figures seem to be somewhat identical to what Hadi al-Salami, a member of the parliamentary integrity committee in the Iraqi parliament, said about Iraq's losses from money laundering.

The Iraqi MP refers to one of these cases, which is that in 2020 alone, the Central Bank sold $ 40 billion in the currency auction, which is supposed to be matched by the same value of imports of $ 40 billion, but its value amounted to only $ 14 billion, which means that the value of corruption operations was estimated at about $ 23 billion in the said year.

In 2021, the volume of currency sold in the auction amounted to 30 billion US dollars, while the value of imports amounted to only 13 billion dollars, and the difference between them - according to Al-Salami - represents what Iraq loses from money laundering and terrorist financing.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, MP Al-Salami calls on the Iraqi government and the Central Bank to abide by the conditions and laws of the international community to prevent currency smuggling to prevent collisions in ways he considers "inappropriate" in order to achieve the interests of the people.

Regarding the most prominent mechanisms to be taken to amputate or reduce money laundering operations, the member of the parliamentary integrity stressed the need for a monetary policy for the Central Bank, and a financial policy for the Ministry of Finance, calling on the Central Bank to withdraw the licenses of banks involved in currency smuggling or money laundering through speculation, as well as the case with some offices and companies.

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Tishwash:  The dollar crisis reveals the need to modernize the backward banking system in Iraq

The dollar crisis reveals the need to organize the work of Iraqi banks and to carry out reforms at the level of technologies and management of financial transactions.

The Iraqi Banks Association did not succeed in influencing the end of the crisis, which indicates that its structure and performance are weaker than facing such a challenge.

The leader in the coordination framework, Mahmoud al-Hayani, said that the Iraqi Private Banks Association is part of the issue of the dollar’s ​​rise crisis, especially since this association includes many banks that are the cause of currency smuggling and money laundering, and this association did not have any role in this crisis, rather it was part of the crisis not resolved.

The banking sector in Iraq suffers from underdeveloped technologies, bureaucracy and administrative red tape.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani said that some banks and exchange offices do not follow a real and regular national financial policy.

Political analyst Qusai Mahbouba said on Twitter that government banks are hotbeds of corruption, failure and abhorrent bureaucracy, adding: There is no solution for these dilapidated banks except to liquidate them.

Al-Jubouri, who is interested in Iraqi affairs, said that one of the biggest lies in Iraq is the governmental and private banks, pointing out that the banks operate in the fifties of the last century.

Journalist Haider Ebrisem believes that government banks account for nearly 80% of the monetary mass, which means that 80% of the system will not move a finger in the face of the monetary stability crisis in Iraq.

The follower of Iraqi affairs, Ahmed Al-Abadi, believes that the number of banks in countries reflects the developmental dimension and the development of the financial and banking sector of the economy, except in Iraq, the number of banks that resemble shops reflects the extent of financial and administrative corruption.

The official website of the Central Bank of Iraq indicates that the number of local and foreign banks operating in the country is 78, including 7 government and 45 private banks, in addition to 17 branches of foreign banks operating in the country.

The former minister, Muhammad Iqbal al-Saydali, talks about the Iraqi experience in private banks being shameful, and the imbalance in their work is great, and its indicators in the Iraqi economy are almost bringing the country to the abyss, as is happening now, considering that the problem is in the weakness of the political system and the encroachment of corruption cartels in the state system.

And the economic analyst, Nabil Jabbar Al-Ali Al-Tamimi, conveys a scene of the performance of Iraqi banks, where remittance funds are collected without asking merchants for any documents related to his trade or the reasons for transferring money, then they are collected and a remittance service is purchased from private banks, which in turn ask the Central Bank for requests to strengthen their balances in banks.

Correspondents outside Iraq are provided with the Central Bank with formal and fictitious documents (forged) for the purpose of passing these transfers, considering that this mechanism has been going on for nearly 20 years and its continuation has led to a clear distortion in the import data, and great suspicions in passing transfers that may include deals for laundering and money laundering or financing groups terrorist, and this is the origin of the US federal objection.   link

Mot: .. an Apple???? Huh!!!