The Central Bank of Iraq said on Sunday that the International Monetary Fund praised Iraq’s steps in maintaining the stability of the economy by reducing inflation and stabilizing the foreign exchange market.
The central said in a statement, the network received 964 copies of it:
Experts of the International Monetary Fund mission praised the measures taken by the Central Bank of Iraq, which contributed to maintaining the stability of the Iraqi economy and working to raise its capabilities.
The mission said in a final statement on the sidelines of the meetings held in the Jordanian capital Amman, that “growth in the non-oil sector returned strongly in 2023, with inflation eaning. Growth in real non-oil GDP is estimated at 6 percent in 2023, after easing in 2022. Overall inflation fell from a high level of 7.5 percent at the beginning of 2023, to 4 percent by the end of the same year, reflecting the decline in food and energy prices at the international level.”
The mission attributed these developments to “the return of trade finance operations to their normal course and the stability of the foreign exchange market. After some interruptions following the implementation of new anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism controls on cross-border payments in November 2022, improved compliance with the new system, and the Central Bank of Iraq’s initiatives to reduce transaction processing times led to a recovery in trade finance in the second half of 2023. This has ensured that the private sector has access to foreign currency at official prices for import and travel purposes.”
The mission welcomed “the initial steps taken towards the establishment of the Unified Treasury Account (TSA), which is a critical tool for improving cash flow management.”
The mission praised “the efforts made by the Central Bank of Iraq aimed at getting rid of surplus liquidity. The central bank increased interest rate on monetary policy instruments, raised mandatory reserve requirements, and began issuing 14-day Treasury bills last summer. He called on the Fund to support the existing efforts by the Central Bank by unifying unused government deposits in the unified treasury account, refraining from fiscal policy in pro-pronosist trends, reducing dependence on monetary financing, and improving the management of public debt, noting the continuation of efforts to establish an interbank market with the support of technical assistance provided by the International Monetary Fund. The mission also welcomes the steps taken by the authorities to accelerate the pace of digitization of the economy, reduce dependence on cash and enhance financial inclusion.”
