Iraqi News Highlights Sunday Afternoon 8-20-23
Tlm724 Administrator Bondlady’s Corner
The World Bank: The Prospects Of The Iraqi Economy Are At Risk Due To Excessive Dependence On Oil
Money and business Economy News-Baghdad The World Bank said that the Iraqi economy suffers from stagnation in non-oil gross domestic product, industries, and agricultural activities, which was accompanied by high inflation rates, as Iraq lacks under its current government; for large-scale structural reforms to strengthen its economy away from oil.
The World Bank stated in the report issued on the economy in Iraq and its debts, under the title: (Renewed Pressures: Iraq’s Recovery is in Danger), seen by “Al-Iqtisad News”, that the annual budget approved by the government authorities is witnessing a significant increase in the volume of public expenditures by 59% over The previous year, which represents 74.3% of total spending, which will lead to a large fiscal deficit of 51.6 trillion Iraqi dinars – equivalent to 39.7 billion dollars – which represents 14.3% of the volume of public imports, more than half of the recent record reserves that accumulated in the wake of The boom in oil prices.
Regarding the policies of the (central bank) in devaluing the local currency, the World Bank reported that the devaluation of the Iraqi dinar led to an increase in overall and basic inflation. Due to the heavy reliance on imports in light of the weak local production that is not supported by the government authorities, which exposed the country’s fragile economy.
The World Bank report added that the standards for transactions adopted by the (Central Bank) through currency sale auctions; It caused the redirection of hard currency to the parallel market, which caused the devaluation of the dinar against the dollar.
According to the World Bank, Iraq’s lack of diversification of income sources – due to the chaotic policies of successive governments – led to a contraction of the gross domestic product by 1.1% in 2023 and an increase in the country’s public debt to reach 58.3%, after it was 53.8% in the previous year, i.e. it will reach 152 billion. dollars, with an increase of $10 billion, while the total external debt amounted to $50 billion, and the internal debt amounted to $102 billion, which means that government authorities borrowed about $60 billion internally in the previous three years, at a rate of $15 billion annually, with annual interest on internal debts amounting to 16 to 17% of the debt volume.
According to the bank, the prospects for the economic future in Iraq are still subject to great risks. Because of the excessive dependence on oil, which makes it vulnerable to shocks in oil markets and global demand, as evidenced by the recent decline in oil prices, in addition to the factors driving fragility that pose basic challenges to the economy, such as widespread corruption, poor service delivery and infrastructure development, and security risks.
The World Bank added that the continuation of government authorities in pursuing these policies will make the country’s budget in favor of the political parties that have delayed the wheel of development and made it suffer from major imbalances despite the passage of two decades of allegations of the end of the war. Views 96 08/20/2023 https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=35752
Continuous Rise.. The Exchange Rates Of The Dollar Against The Dinar In Baghdad
Iraq Sunday, August 20, 2023 Baghdad / National News Center Today, Sunday, the exchange rates of the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar rose in the markets of the capital, Baghdad.
As “the selling price amounted to 155,000 dinars per 100 dollars, while the purchase price amounted to 153,000 dinars per 100 dollars.” https://nnciraq.com/222467/
New Controls From The Central Bank To Regulate Financial Movements Inside Iraq
Economy Saturday, August 19, 2023 2:08 PM Baghdad / National News Center Today, Saturday, the Central Bank of Iraq issued directives to all banks to take new controls for the purpose of regulating financial movements inside Iraq.
According to a document issued by the Central Bank and obtained by the National News Center, the directives included “the ceiling for withdrawals for local financial movements (inside Iraq) that are made through automated teller machines (ATMs) for prepaid cards to 2,000,000 (two million Iraqi dinars) per day.” Instead of (395,000) Iraqi dinars.
And the central directed, to “raise the ceiling of the purchase movement through points of sale inside Iraq to be 10,000,000 (ten million Iraqi dinars), with a commitment not to exceed the monthly limit for charging the card, which amounts to (10 million),” with “reducing the ceiling of electronic purchase to be (750) dollars. American Daily.
And he stressed that banks should work “to expand your agent network by contracting with entities that are allowed to sell and market this type of card.”
He stressed, “The exception of local financial movements on prepaid cards with the commitment contained in Paragraph (5) of the above circulars related to Merchant Category Codes (MCC), provided that they are within the legitimate purposes of purchase and payment.” https://nnciraq.com/222319/
Iraq Exceeds Saudi Arabia In Its Oil Exports To America
Sunday 20 August 2023 09:45 | Economical Number of readings: 318 Baghdad / NINA / – The US Energy Information Administration announced, on Sunday, the stability of Iraq’s oil exports to America, bypassing Saudi Arabia last week.
The administration said in its table, “The average US imports of crude oil during the past week from nine major countries amounted to 5.953 million barrels per day.”
She added, “Iraq’s oil exports to America amounted to an average of 304,000 barrels per day last week, decreasing by a thousand barrels as a daily rate from the previous week.”
She pointed out that “most of America’s oil revenues during the past week came from Canada, followed by Mexico, Ecuador, and then Nigeria.”
According to the administration, “the amount of US imports of crude oil from Saudi Arabia amounted to 285,000 barrels per day, followed by Brazil, Libya and Colombia, while it did not import any amount from Russia.” https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=1072018
Total Central Bank Sales Of Foreign Currency
Sunday 20, August 2023 13:12 | Economical Number of readings: 185 Baghdad / NINA / – The Central Bank announced, today, Sunday, its total sales of foreign currency through the electronic window.
The total transfers to the outside (remittances and credits) amounted to 175,927,102 dollars, while cash sales amounted to 19,800,000 dollars, thus the total sales amounted to 195,727,102 dollars.
The Central Bank covered the price of cash sales and transfers (1310) dinars per dollar, and documentary credits and international settlements for the electronic card (1305) dinars per dollar. https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=1072068
