"Tidbits From TNT" Thursday Morning 7-27-2023

TNT:

Tishwash:  An independent deputy calls on Al-Sudani to end the assignment of the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq because of the dollar crisis

 Independent MP Hadi Al-Salami called on the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia'a Al-Suadni, to terminate the mandate of the Central Bank Governor, in accordance with the provisions of Article 13 of the Central Bank Law No. 56 of 2003.

According to a document in which Al-Salami called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’a Al-Suadni to end the assignment of the central bank governor in accordance with the provisions of Article 13 of the Central Bank Law No. 56 of 2003 by appointing the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq with the rank of minister, according to the proposal of the Prime Minister and the approval of the House of Representatives.

The independent deputy also demanded that he “be experienced and specialized in banking, financial or economic affairs, and given the mismanagement of the current governor-designate and his inability to control the rise in exchange rates of the dollar against the dinar in the parallel market, as well as the failure to take legal measures against Iraqi banks that have been subject to US sanctions.”

From dollar smuggling and money laundering, in addition to his refusal to send the daily bulletin of the sales of the foreign currency sale auction window, despite its official request, in a manner that disrupts the supervisory and representative role of the deputy and constitutes an explicit violation of the provisions of Article 27 Seventh.  link

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AmazingLaMont: Bank owners and citizens protest deterioration of the Iraqi dinar following US ban on Iraqi banks

Click here for link to original article  (and pictures)

Story by By ALI JABAR and SALAR SALIM, Associated Press • Yesterday 8:05 AM

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Dozens of people protested in front of the Central Bank of Iraq in Baghdad and bank owners called for official action to stem a sharp increase in the dollar exchange rate Wednesday, after the United States blacklisted 14 Iraqi banks.

Over the past two days, the market rate of the dollar jumped from 1,470 dinar per dollar to 1,570 dinar per dollar. The jump came after the U.S. listed 14 private Iraqi banks among banks that are banned from dealing with U.S. dollars due to suspicions of money laundering and funneling funds to Iran.

The ban was imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on July 19.

“The listing of almost one third of the private banks as banned from dealing with the U.S. dollar will have negative consequences from many perspectives," Haidar al Shamaa, owner of a private bank in Baghdad said at a news conference Wednesday.

He called on "the brothers at the Iraqi government to work ... to undo the damage which occurred to us specifically, and to the Iraqi banking section in general.”

The 14 banks facing the ban issued a joint statement urging the Iraqi government to address the issue and warning that banning a third of Iraq's private banks from dollar trading would not only impact the dollar price but hinder foreign investment.

Protesters organized by a group calling itself Thuwar Tishreen (October Revolutionaries), which is connected to a movement that started mass protests in Iraq in 2021, also demanded that the government take action to halt inflation.

Also on Wednesday, central bank chief Ali al-Allaq told the state-run Iraqi News Agency that his institution continues to provide dollars at the official rate of 1,320 dinar to the dollar for “all legitimate transactions” including “remittances and credits for various imports.”

He blamed the current rise in the street price of the dollar on the “reluctance of certain merchants” who “do not practice legitimate activities and operations” to use the official electronic platform used for currency requests.

On Sunday, the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani met with al-Allaq and discussed measures to stabilize the dinar price against the dollar.

A similar dive in the value of the dinar took place earlier this year after measures taken by the United States late last year to stamp out money laundering and the channeling of dollars to Iran and Syria from Iraq severely restricted Iraq’s access to hard currency.

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Tishwash:  Al-Fateh: America is waging an economic war on Iraq to achieve three goals

On Thursday, the leader of the Al-Fateh Alliance, Uday Abdul-Hadi, accused America of waging an economic war on Iraq to achieve three goals.

Abdul-Hadi said in an interview with Al-Maalouma, "The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against 14 Iraqi banks at once, in the second decision in this direction in months, reflecting Washington's agenda to impose economic sanctions on Baghdad under several pretexts."

He added, "The US sanctions took 3 dimensions, most notably the exploitation of its influence on the dollar and turning it into a tool to put pressure on the government and its institutions," pointing out that "the sanctions prompted a significant increase in the parallel market for selling the dollar, which means more pressure on the markets, which will be more evident in the coming days." ".

He pointed out that "re-diversifying the Iraqi currency basket has become an option that contributes to reducing the impact of the dollar on the markets, especially with its repeated use as a pressure card on the government decision."

And the US sanctions on Iraqi private banks raised the selling prices of the dollar in the parallel market. Ended   link

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Tishwash:  Hermit Islamic Bank: Iraq is preparing for an active economic movement

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al-Nasik Islamic Bank, Prof. Dr. Sadiq Rashid Al-Shammari said that Iraq is waiting for a promising economic movement, which makes it imperative for us to create a developed financial sector that competes with international banks that have realized the importance of Iraq on the international economic arena.

Al-Shammari pointed out that the international delegations that come to Iraq are accompanied by continuous economic efforts.

In turn, between the Managing Director of the Nask Islamic Bank d. Abdul Hafez said that Iraq is a new market and contains a large number of job opportunities due to the presence of many banks and financial companies that can expand with the high rates of development in Iraq.

And Abdul Hafez stressed that Iraqi banks should be close to the technology that leads to the development of the reality of the products that are offered to the beneficiaries.  link

Mot:  ... Gunna be late to Work.. big Storm Last Night and ~~~

Mot:  ... wellllllllllllll - it does look like it!!!