The World Gold Council announced today, Wednesday, that Iraq has raised its gold holdings to more than 152.5 tons.

According to a table published by the council for November 2024, “Iraq ranked 29th out of 100 countries listed in the table with the largest gold reserves,” indicating that “Iraq ranked third in the Arab world after Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.”

He added that “Iraq raised its gold holdings to 152.6 after it had 152.5 tons, which represents 11.5% of its remaining reserves. “

The council also indicated that “the United States of America came first with the largest gold holdings in the world, with 8,133.5 thousand tons, followed by Germany, then Italy, while Bosnia and Herzegovina came at the bottom of the reserve table.”

Locally, the price of an ounce of gold today was recorded at $2,725 in the local markets in Baghdad, while the price of the 21-karat lira was recorded at 585 thousand Iraqi dinars, and the selling prices of gold in the local markets were recorded as follows:

A mithqal of 21-karat gold at 585 thousand dinars

A mithqal of 18-karat gold at 500 thousand dinars

A mithqal of 22-karat gold at 613 thousand dinars

A mithqal of 24-karat gold at 668 thousand dinars /

Parliamentary Legal Committee To Nina: Our Priorities Are To Amend These Two Laws.. And This Is The Package Of Legislation In The Hands Of Parliament

Wednesday 06 November 2024 | Politics Number of readings: 183  Baghdad / NINA / The Parliamentary Legal Committee revealed the package of legislations entrusted to the Council of Representatives and supposed to be passed during the current legislative session.

Committee member MP Omid Mohammed said in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency ( NINA ): “There are more than 153 draft laws and proposed laws, accumulated by the parliamentary committees since the beginning of the current legislative session.”

He added: “In the previous legislative session, we reached an agreement between the heads of the blocs and committees to pass the package of non-controversial laws during the current legislative session.

The Legal Committee also addressed the blocs and other committees to submit any legislation related to the Legal Committee for discussion in the sessions of the Council of Representatives.”

He explained: “The Legal Committee has prepared a list of many non-controversial laws that are being discussed to submit them to the Presidency of Parliament, in order to present them for a vote.

There is also a package of other controversial laws that we are trying as much as possible to maintain balance in their legislation,” indicating: “The draft amendments to the Anti-Narcotics and General Amnesty Laws are at the top of the priorities of the Parliamentary Legal Committee.” / End 5

Iraq’s Share In The IMF
When Iraq announced the full payment of its debts to the International Monetary Fund last May,     Reuters quoted the Fund as saying that

Iraq is facing internal imbalances that have been exacerbated by the

large financial expansion and
low oil prices, and that

it needs to gradually correct its public financial conditions to achieve debt stability in the medium term and restore… Build reserves.

At the same time, and despite the expansion of public financial management with the aim of achieving significant increases in growth rates, the Ministry of Planning announced a decrease in inflation rates from 7.5 percent to 4 percent, which is a positive precedent that had not happened before and is considered for those in charge of monetary and financial policies.

The Central Bank said that the

cash reserves exceed 110 billion dollars and that the
country’s gold reserves amounted to approximately 150 tons.

The full repayment of the country’s debt to the International Monetary Fund, and the

decrease in the inflation rate along with the
increase in cash reserve rates,

were indicators of a major shift in economic policies,

not because the amount of debt was large, as it exceeded about eight billion dollars, but because such debts are usually conditional. In the context of the so-called economic reform program that aims to privatize state functions and link the country’s fate to the policies of the creditor parties and those behind them,

it has been known globally that the governments that can get rid of the burden of the debt of the International Fund and the World Bank are the most successful in

managing the affairs of their countries and
implementing their programs related to supporting economic stability. Overall and
implementing the necessary financial reforms,
support for the ration card program was not only a direct cause of reducing inflation rates, as
other factors related to monetary and financial policies,
limiting parallel markets, and the flow of foreign currency while
supporting the local product contributed to achieving this, and thus the

increase in the rate of The country’s gold reserves are a

tool to cover the local currency and a
safe way to hedge against economic fluctuations and security tensions taking place in the world and the region.

Accordingly, those responsible for the economic policy files prove their success, and

it is our duty to point out these successes, just as it was our duty to always point out the weaknesses and stumbling points with the aim of monitoring and correcting, as the vision presented by the IMF regarding the conditions of public finances and debts and rebuilding reserves has proven to be inaccurate..

And here is Iraq today, intending to increase its share in the International Monetary Fund by the equivalent of 1.45 trillion dinars, in a way that

supports its voting power within the fund, and
contributes to attracting investments and
creating a promising business environment and real development, and thus
addressing the problem of inflation in the labor market and
implementing the provisions of the government program.

Central Bank Governor Stresses Need For Cooperation To Facilitate Trade With Azerbaijan

The Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq, stressed on Wednesday the need for cooperation to facilitate trade with Azerbaijan.

The Central Bank’s media office stated in a statement received by Mawazine News that “the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq, received the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Iraq, Nasir Mammadov,” noting that “during the meeting, they discussed cooperation relations between Iraq and Azerbaijan and ways to develop them to include various economic fields.”

According to the statement, the governor stressed “the need to improve the nature of bilateral relations and expand the horizons of cooperation in the banking field between the two countries,

in addition to their positive repercussions on the economic, tourism and investment sectors,” noting the importance of cooperation at the level of exchanging experiences and the process of transferring money to facilitate trade between the two countries.

For his part, the ambassador stressed “the importance of economic relations with Iraq and the need to overcome obstacles to enhance and grow them,” inviting “the governor to visit Azerbaijan in preparation for future cooperation in the economic and banking fields.”

After The Decision To Compensate The Region For The Costs Of Producing And Transporting Oil…An Expert Reveals Financial Damages And Disparities

   Today, Tuesday (November 5, 2024), economic expert Nabil Al-Marsoumi revealed financial damages and disparities in favor of Kurdistan as a result of amending Article (12/Second/C) of the 2023 budget, which indicates equalizing the costs of producing and transporting the region’s oil with its counterpart produced in the Ministry’s fields. Federal oil.

Al-Marsoumi wrote on the “Facebook” platform, followed by “Baghdad Today,” that

“the new amendment includes assigning a consulting body to determine the costs in each of Kurdistan’s oil fields, but the Ministry of Finance will pay $16 to Kurdistan as an advance for the cost of production and transportation that will be delivered to SOMO.” “It will be settled later.” He added:

“It is known that the cost of production and transportation of oil produced by the

     Federal Ministry of Oil amounts to $6.9 per barrel, while the

     region demands about $32.9 per barrel, distributed as follows: Oil production cost = $24.32 per barrel, and oil transportation cost = $8.59 per barrel.”

Earlier today, Tuesday (November 5, 2024), the Council of Ministers approved a proposal to amend Article (12/Second/C) of the Tripartite Budget Law No. (13 of 2023) regarding the oil of the Kurdistan region.

 The amendment to the proposal included, according to what was stated in the Council’s decision, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, received by “Baghdad Today”, that

 “the Federal Ministry of Finance shall assume the responsibility of compensating the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq from sovereign expenditures for production and transportation costs, for the quantities of oil produced in the region that are received from Before the Oil Marketing Company (SOMO), or the Federal Ministry of Oil in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this clause, provided that the fair estimated costs of production and transportation for each field are calculated separately, by a specialized international technical advisory body, determined by the Federal Ministry of Oil.

In agreement with the Ministry of Natural Resources in the region, within (60) days from the entry into force of this law, and in the event of failure to agree within the aforementioned period, the Federal Council of Ministers shall determine the aforementioned advisory body.”

The statement continued,

  “The consultant mentioned in the previous paragraph submits the estimated production and transportation cost to the Ministries of Oil, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, and

 it is approved for the purposes of this law, and the calculation of the aforementioned compensation is based on the mentioned cost per barrel multiplied by the number of barrels received in accordance with paragraphs (A). ) and (b), of this clause, and the Federal Ministry of Finance shall pay the amounts to the regional government.”  The statement also indicated

  “immediately starting to deliver the oil produced in the region to the Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) or the Federal Ministry of Oil in accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this clause,

and the costs of production and transportation will be compensated by the Federal Ministry of Finance as an advance, at a rate (16) dollars per barrel, to be settled later after the completion of the specialized technical consultant mentioned above, and retroactively from the date of commencing delivery under this amendment.