Wednesday Afternoon Iraq Economic News Highlights 9-7-22

Wednesday Afternoon Iraq Economic News Highlights 9-7-22

Contractors Demand The Mosul Government For 60 Billion Dinars Spent On Paper

Posted On2022-09-07 By Sotaliraq   Nineveh   After ten years of waiting, the contractors' money reached the banks in Nineveh, and the banks sent a letter to the concerned ministries and institutions that the contractors to whom the governorate owed billions had received their dues, but the story did not end there.

What is stranger than the long wait, is that dozens of contractors to whom the government owes about 60 billion dinars, gathered in front of the Nineveh Governorate building, stressing that they had not received a single dinar yet, and they demanded to reveal the fate of their money, and to which corrupt pocket it went.

Ahmed Salal, a contractor, told UTV, “The aim of our endowment is to receive our dues that have been more than 10 years old, and a part of them since 2012, and these dues were supposed to be paid 10 months ago, as they were released from Baghdad and the accounts and banks arrived in Nineveh, and now We want to know where the money went."

Contractors and workers in the building and construction sector contracting with the local government in Nineveh and its service departments face several problems, starting from the difficulty in obtaining contracts, most of which are referred to companies and contractors from outside the governorate, in addition to the difficulty of obtaining their money and rights owed by these departments and ministries.

The delay in disbursing the dues of contractors and companies operating in Nineveh Governorate after completing dozens of important strategic projects, raises doubts about the consequences of this delay and the beneficiaries of non-disbursement of their dues, especially after announcing their disbursement before it reaches its beneficiaries, as is happening today.   LINK

Central Iranian: Offering The Iraqi Dinar To Local Banks

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran announced the introduction of the Iraqi dinar currency in local banks.

Governor Ali Saleh Abadi said in a statement on the sidelines of the cabinet session today, Wednesday, that a quantity of the Iraqi dinar entered the country yesterday and will be distributed starting tomorrow (Thursday).

He pointed out that those wishing to perform the fortieth visit of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) should go to the local banks to provide the dinar currency besides reviewing the exchange offices.

And he indicated that 25 local banks have been identified to offer the dinar currency, in order to avoid crowding the exchange offices in the market.  LINK

Officially.. Iran Is Offering The Iraqi Dinar In Its Local Banks

Shafaq News/ The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Ali Saleh Abadi, announced on Wednesday the launch of the Iraqi dinar currency in Iranian local banks.

The governor said in a statement on the sidelines of the Iranian cabinet meeting that took place today, that a quantity of the Iraqi dinar entered the country yesterday and will be distributed starting tomorrow (Thursday).

He added that those wishing to perform the fortieth visit of Imam Hussein should go to local banks to provide the dinar currency, besides reviewing the exchange offices.

Saleh Abadi continued by saying that 25 local banks have been identified to offer the dinar currency, in order to avoid congestion in the exchange offices in the market.   LINK

Within 5 Months, Iraq Topped The Countries Importing Iranian Goods, With Nearly $3 Billion

Shafaq News/ A spokesman for the Iranian Customs Authority, Ruhollah Latifi, announced on Wednesday that the volume of Iran's non-oil trade with 15 neighboring countries exceeded 33.333 million tons, worth $20.636 billion in the first five months of the current fiscal year, from March 21 to August 20/ August 2022.

Latifi said in a statement today, that Iran's non-oil trade in the first five months recorded a total of 58.140 million tons, worth 42.589 billion dollars, as the volume of trade with neighboring countries amounted to 33.333 million tons, worth 20.636 billion dollars, with a quantitative acquisition rate of 57 percent and a price of 48 percent. .

He added that non-oil trade with neighboring countries recorded a growth of 24 percent on an annual basis.

Latifi also indicated that Iranian exports to the 15 countries amounted to 25.389 million tons, worth 10.723 billion dollars, a growth of 27 percent, compared to the import of 7.935 million tons of goods, worth 9.913 billion dollars, a growth of 21 percent over the corresponding period of 2021.

The spokesman noted the ranking of the countries importing Iranian goods during the five months mentioned, as Iraq topped the list of imports of 8.655 million tons with a value of 2.961 billion dollars, followed by: the UAE 5 million tons with 2.781 billion dollars, and Turkey 3.682 million tons with 2.328 billion as well as Afghanistan 1.256 million tons at 641 million dollars, and Pakistan 1.078 million tons at 475 million.

Latifi added that Oman imported 1.219 million tons with a value of 452 million dollars, Azerbaijan 308 thousand tons with 296 million tons, Russia 417 thousand tons with 291 million tons, Turkmenistan 529,000 tons with 166 million dollars, Armenia 358 thousand tons with 144 million tons, and Kuwait 2.172 million tons With 73 million dollars, Kazakhstan 243 thousand tons with 61.2 million, Qatar 375 thousand tons with 51 million, Bahrain 4.2 thousand tons with 3.4 million dollars, and Saudi Arabia 376 tons with 192 thousand dollars.

On the other hand, a spokesman for the Customs Authority drew attention to the neighboring countries from which Iran imported goods during the mentioned period, namely the United Arab Emirates 4.603 million tons at a value of 6.074 billion dollars, Turkey 1.163 million tons at 2.166 billion dollars, Russia 1.163 million tons at 715 million and Pakistan 383 thousand tons at 429 million, Oman 347 thousand tons with 310 million, Kazakhstan 178 thousand tons at 78.4 million dollars, and Iraq 54 thousand tons with 74 million.

He added that Qatar came after Iraq 1,800 tons with a value of 17 million dollars, Azerbaijan 8951 tons with 15.3 million dollars, Turkmenistan 22,000 tons with 14.4 million dollars, Afghanistan 8,500 tons with 10.4 million dollars, Kuwait 1794 tons with 3.9 million dollars, and Armenia 1969 tons with 3.7 million dollars. And Bahrain 28 tons at 558,000 dollars.   LINK

China Informs Shafak News Of The Details Of The Work Of Its Companies And The "Silk Road" In Iraq

Shafaq News / The Chinese ambassador to Iraq, "Cui Wei", affirmed on Wednesday his country's commitment to the fifth initiative for peaceful coexistence, including non-interference in Iraq's internal affairs, while noting that the "Chinese agreement" comes to enhance trade exchange between the two countries.

Wei said, in response to a question from Shafak News Agency correspondent, that "Iraq is for the people, and for any party or country in the world, to respect the choice of the Iraqi people," calling at the same time "the political parties and Iraqis, to find an appropriate solution to the current crisis."

The Chinese ambassador added: "Beijing trusts the wisdom of the political parties to resolve the crisis, noting that Iraq is one of the sources of the four ancient human civilizations."

He explained that "the Chinese-Iraqi agreement is to enhance cooperation and exchange between the two countries, including the project to build schools in Iraq, and that the embassy does not interfere with the work of projects, and there are more projects within the agreement between Iraq and China."

He continued, "Iraq is China's third largest trading partner in the West Asia and North Africa region, and is also China's largest supplier of crude oil," noting that "in 2021, the total volume of trade exchange between China and Iraq amounted to $37.3 billion, and institutions participated in And Chinese companies are building a lot of projects, including oil fields, power stations, airports and schools."

And Cui Wei said, "Chinese companies have made positive contributions towards the reconstruction of Iraq after the war, and Beijing will continue its cooperation with Baghdad to participate in building the Silk Road Belt."

Regarding the return of Iraqi students to China to complete their studies, the Chinese ambassador confirmed that the problem has been resolved, saying: "Iraqi students can now enter Chinese territory without having to re-apply for a visa."

The American newspaper "Washington Times" criticized Iraq's growing cooperation with China, warning that Beijing is using "soft power" to penetrate the Iraqi economy, especially in the oil sector, in the absence of American interest, taking advantage of its relationship with Iraqi "militias", and the atmosphere of corruption that exists in Country.

The Chinese agreement opened the door wide for Beijing to flow into the Iraqi economy sectors, a move that caused Western fears that Baghdad would become a hostage to the Chinese dragon, like many capitals of emerging Asian countries that have plunged into several economic crises because of their absolute dependence on Chinese investments.

Unlike the West, Beijing provides generous aid to Iraq without imposing political conditions on Iraqi leaders, such as achieving more democracy or pursuing structural reform policies for the local economy, so cooperation with China appears more attractive.

In October 2019, the former Prime Minister of Iraq, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, signed an agreement with China that activated the "oil for reconstruction" program, under which dozens of Chinese companies pledged to work in Iraqi infrastructure in exchange for Beijing receiving 100,000 barrels of oil per day.   LINK

Warnings Of The Continued Targeting Of Internet Companies In Iraq: Their Goal Is Extortion

Shafaq News/ The leader of the Al-Fateh Alliance, Ali Al-Fatlawi, warned today, Wednesday, of the continued targeting of Internet companies, the last of which was in the Al-Arasat area in the center of the capital, Baghdad.

Al-Fatlawi told Shafaq News Agency, "The government is required to provide full protection for Internet companies in Baghdad and the rest of the provinces, and to prevent any infringement on them by any party and for any reason," adding that "there is a government deficit and security chaos due to political instability."

And he indicated that "targeting Internet companies has several messages, including provoking security chaos and trying to stir up public opinion by cutting off the Internet after targeting companies, or it is an attempt to blackmail by some parties to get money, not every bombing is a terrorist, but there are acts aimed at extortion, and this matter is exposed He has a lot of companies.

The leader of the Al-Fateh Alliance concluded that "we must be wary of continuing to target Internet companies, as this may directly or indirectly affect the service provided to citizens in this field."

And a building belonging to the company (Earthlink) for communications in the Al-Arsat area in central Baghdad, at dawn on Monday, was targeted.

Last Sunday, the National Internet Project announced that the infrastructure of the optical cable service in Salah al-Din Governorate had been targeted by a "terrorist" aiming to destroy the infrastructure of the Internet sector in Iraq.

This is not the first time that the booths of the National Internet Project have been targeted. In previous times, they were targeted in the governorates of Nineveh, Basra, Karbala and Dhi Qar.

The company (Earthlink) executing the project said in a statement, "On the first of this September, a terrorist group sabotaged the booth of the National Internet Project in the Muthanna area in Samarra, and caused severe damage to it."

She added, "The cabin that was targeted provides optical cable service, and was equipped to provide service through this modern technology to more than 500 homes in the city, and it is one of a group of cabins that provide Internet service with the latest mechanisms."

The company (Earthlink) called on the security services to "the necessity of investigating and prosecuting the targets of the Internet infrastructure, especially the optical cable network, which is the latest technology for passing Internet capacities, because harming this sector means harming the Iraqi economy and the service provided to citizens."    LINK