Iraq Economic News and Points to Ponder Tuesday AM

Iraq Economic News and Points to Ponder Tuesday AM 10-10-23

The dollar “stuns” the Iraqi dinar in Karbala markets

Tuesday, 10-10-2023, KARAR AL-ASSADI  The exchange rates of the dollar rose significantly against the Iraqi dinar, today, Tuesday (October 10, 2023), in the local markets in Karbala .

The Noon News Agency correspondent stated that the selling price of the dollar in the local markets in Karbala reached 163,000 dinars per $100, while the purchase price reached 161,000 dinars per $100.

https://non14.net/public/160836

A Significant Rise In Dollar Exchange Rates In Iraqi Markets

Economy   2023-10-10 | 16,158 views   Alsumaria News – Economy   Alsumaria News publishes the exchange rates of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar in Iraqi local markets for Tuesday, October 10, 2023.

Dollar prices rose in local markets in Baghdad, as the selling price reached 163,000 per 100 dollars, while the purchasing price reached 162,500 per 100 dollars.

For more than 7 months, and specifically since the Central Bank began operating the electronic platform and the international financial transfer system ““SWIFT,” the dollar exchange rates in Iraq have not witnessed stability despite the attempts of the government and the Central Bank to control the exchange rate in the parallel (black) markets.

The  Central Bank of Iraq [/url] decided earlier to adjust the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar, as the price of buying the dollar from the Ministry of Finance reached 1,300 dinars per dollar and selling it at (1,310) dinars per dollar to banks through the electronic platform, and it is sold for (1,320) dinars per dollar. Dollars from banks and non-banking financial institutions to the final beneficiary.  LINK

Parliamentary Reliance On The “Profits” Of Iraqi Transport Companies.. How Much Are The Revenues Of “Land, Sea And Air”?

Economy |  Baghdad today – Baghdad  Today, Tuesday (October 10, 2023), the Parliamentary Transport Committee considered that Iraqi transport companies are making good profits to support the state treasury, and they are all profitable companies.

Committee member Fatima Abbas told “Baghdad Today” that “Iraqi transport companies are all profitable companies and are making very good profits to support the state treasury, and these companies are at the level of land, sea and air, and there is development in these companies at all levels in terms of services and increasing imports.” “.

Abbas stated, “It is necessary to pay attention to the profits of all Iraqi government companies, in order to support the state treasury, so that they will greatly assist and enhance oil revenues, as oil cannot be trusted due to the fluctuation of its prices in the global market.”

The total revenues of transport companies in Iraq during one year, 2022, amounted to more than 530 billion dinars, for Iraqi airlines, sea transport, railways, land transport and buses, while Iraqi Airways topped all companies with revenues amounting to more than 300 billion dinars, a number equivalent to only less than 1% of Iraq’s total oil revenues annually.   LINK

UAE “Crescent” Oil: Nearly 1,500 Tankers Burn Daily In Fields In Southern Iraq

Energy Economy News – Baghdad  The CEO of the UAE Crescent Petroleum Company, Abdullah Al-Qadi, said on Tuesday that approximately 1,500 cubic feet of associated gas is burning from southern Iraq’s oil fields, leaving environmental impacts on the cities there.

Al-Qadi said during his hosting of a symposium on the sidelines of the “MERI” Forum for the year 2023 in the city of Erbil, that oil contracts in Iraq obligate all companies to treat the gases produced, but there are some companies that do not fully comply with this matter.

Regarding the work of Crescent Petroleum Company in Iraq, its CEO said: We are fully committed to not burning quantities of gas, and we are the only company in Iraq – if not in the Middle East – that does not burn any quantity of gas completely.

He added that the company recently began using solar energy to generate some energy in the region, with the aim of reducing environmental impacts.

Al-Qadi pointed out that the fields of southern Iraq burn about 1,400-1,500 mqmq of gas per day, stressing that the environmental impact of burning these quantities of gas is much greater in the cities of Amara, Nasiriyah, and Basra.

He continued by saying that the Iraqi government is very serious in the process of changing the gas situation in Iraq in terms of production, processing, and reducing the environmental impact.

Views 21 10/10/2023 – https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=36903

The Council Of Ministers Approves A Number Of Economic Decisions

The Council of Ministers headed by Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani

Money  and business   Today, Monday, the Council of Ministers voted on a set of decisions and recommendations presented on the session’s agenda. In the field of the government’s efforts to solve the housing crisis, which was the top priority of its program, the Council of Ministers agreed to refer the projects of four new residential cities to specialized foreign and local companies, in accordance with recommendations.

The ministerial team formed pursuant to Cabinet Resolution (23121) of 2023, which is:

-New Al-Jawahiri City in Baghdad Governorate.

-The city of New Bank of Karbala in Karbala Governorate.

-The new city of Al-Ghazlani in Nineveh Governorate.

-The new city of Al-Janain in Babylon Governorate.

The Council of Ministers approved that 15% of housing units be for the state, which is the first time that a percentage of housing units has been allocated, as part of the requirements for implementing government plans to solve the housing crisis.

The Council of Ministers also decided that the prices of units in the aforementioned new cities should be fixed and not subject to bidding or trading, by not allowing the investor to sell more than 1% of the housing units to any other company or individual, to ensure that their prices do not rise.

In the field of supporting the efforts of the Ministry of Interior to raise the readiness of the Civil Defense Directorate, the Council of Ministers decided to add the allocation of 25 billion dinars, from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Interior from the emergency reserve, to the investment budget of the Civil Defense Directorate, to enable it to build 100 civil defense centers at a low cost, in a manner Direct implementation, at a price of 250 million dinars for the centre, as an exception to the contracting methods stipulated in the Government Contracts Implementation Instructions No. 2 of 2014, and the controls attached thereto.

The Council also approved the Ministry of Finance’s allocation of an amount of 25 billion dinars to the Ministry of Interior for the purpose of purchasing fire trucks with all their equipment, from the emergency reserve, based on the Federal General Budget Law for the years (2023-2024-2025), and from international origins, and works on spraying water and foam. As an exception to Government Contracts Implementation Instructions No. 2 of 2014.

As part of government measures to resolve the school buildings crisis, the Council approved the recommendations of the meeting to allocate lands for school buildings as follows:

1. The Minister of Agriculture shall authorize the governorate agricultural directors with the authority to lift the hand of agricultural reform on lands allocated for school building projects (exclusively) and to complete the procedures for transferring ownership of the lands donated for the construction of schools.
2. The Diwani Order Committee (23527 of 2023) is responsible for allocating lands for service, health and educational projects, allocating lands for the construction of school buildings, and considering donation requests, in addition to its previous tasks.
3. The Ministry of Finance allocates sufficient amounts to the account of the Ministry of Education; To pay fees, taxes, and fees related to procedures for transferring, allocating, or transferring land ownership for school building projects (exclusively).
4. Education directorates complete administrative procedures with the concerned departments regarding the donation and payment of fees, taxes, and wages resulting from the donation, provided that the donor does not incur any other costs regarding the land donated to build schools.
5. The governorate, in coordination with the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Public Service Council, shall create and allocate three job grades for the donor of the land to build the school or for one of his relatives (up to the second degree).
6. All ministries, government institutions, and endowment offices are obligated to transfer ownership of lands on which school buildings are built and lands allocated for educational purposes to the Ministry of Education without compensation, based on the provisions of the Ministry of Education Law (22 of 2011).
7. The Department of National Projects and School Buildings, in the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, is responsible for following up on the implementation of this decision with the competent authorities.

As part of the government’s efforts to provide ration card items, the Council decided to approve financing the account of the General Foodstuff Trade Company, affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce, with an amount of $1,320,000,000, just one billion three hundred and twenty million dollars, based on the provisions of the Federal General Budget Law of the Republic of Iraq, for the years The three.

The Council of Ministers agreed to authorize the Minister of Finance to negotiate and sign the draft framework agreement with the European Investment Bank, taking into account the opinion of the Council of State.

As for supporting local production, the Council approved the recommendation of the Ministerial Council for the Economy No. (230226 Q) regarding preventing the import of juices, soft drinks, and cakes of all kinds, according to the following:

1. Deletion of juice products, soft drinks, pastries, and cakes of all kinds from import lists, provided that the deletion decision is reviewed after (one year) by the Ministry of Industry and Minerals/Department of Industrial Development and Regulation; To evaluate the extent to which the local market is affected by this deletion, negatively or positively, and if the evaluation is positive, the deletion decision will continue to be implemented until there is an actual need to review it in the future.
2. This decision will be implemented after (90) days, starting from the date of its issuance, with regard to pastries and cakes of all kinds, while the decision to prevent the import of juices and soft drinks that is currently in effect continues.
3. Local producers must continue to submit protection requests for the products covered by the decision.

In the matter related to the protection of Baghdad International Airport, the Council approved the recommendations of the minutes of the meeting held to unify the procedures for protecting the airport, as follows:

1. The Civil Aviation Authority paid the dues of the Canadian company (Business Intel) from the date of commencing its duties, in accordance with the contract signed between them and the aforementioned authority.
2. Granting the Canadian company (Business Intel) a work permit, based on the provisions of the Private Security Companies Law No. (52) of 2017, and according to what was stated in the letter of the Ministry of Interior, starting from October 1, 2023.
3. The Civil Aviation Authority shall extend the contract with the aforementioned company for a period of (6) months, starting from the expiration date of the contract signed between them.
4. Obliging the Civil Aviation Authority to contract with a reputable foreign security company through direct invitations to foreign companies.

The Council of Ministers approves the allocation of $202 million to rehabilitate the Hartha thermal station

In order to raise the level of electric energy production, the Council approved Ministerial Energy Council Recommendation No. 23089 of 2023, as follows:

The Ministry of Finance has allocated an amount of 202,576,000 dollars, just two hundred and two million five hundred and seventy-six thousand dollars, to the Ministry of Electricity, for the purpose of rehabilitating units (2 and 3) in the Al-Hartha thermal station, and rehabilitating the gas cycle station, due to its importance in supplying the network with electrical energy, based on the provisions of The federal general budget law for the three years, with the Ministry of Finance financing 50% of it for this year.

The Council also approved an increase in the operational/maintenance budget allocations in the Ministry of Electricity, based on the provisions of the Federal General Budget Law of the Republic of Iraq, for the three years, in order to pay off the debts of the public and private sectors, each 50%.

In the field of improving the reality of services, the Council decided to approve the transfer of the work of the project “Implementing the remaining works of the Al-Musayyib Water Project” to Al-Azza General Contracting Company, as an exception to the instructions for implementing government contracts for the year 2014, at the same prices, and with a new period calculated on the basis of the remainder of the project, and with a letter. The guarantee itself, and obligating the company to provide additional guarantees in order to speed up the completion of the project; In service of the public interest.

The Council approved the establishment of a public company called (Al-Mas General Company for Trade, Contracting and Implementation of Defense Projects) with a capital of twenty billion dinars, affiliated with the Ministry of Defense, allocated from the aforementioned Ministry’s budget for the year 2023, based on the provisions of the Public Companies Law (22) of 1997, as amended, according to The activity of the aforementioned company must be consistent with Article (4) of the aforementioned Public Companies Law, and the Ministry of Defense is responsible for taking the appropriate measures specified in the aforementioned article of the same law.

In order to stop the repercussions of illegal immigration on Iraq, the Council approved the comprehensive national plan to reduce illegal immigration, according to what was stated in the letter of the Ministry of Immigration and Displacement on October 4, 2023.

Within the framework of Iraq’s foreign relations, the Council approved the following:

1. Authorizing the Minister of Commerce to sign a draft agreement on economic, commercial, scientific, artistic and cultural cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Iraq and the Government of the Republic of Zambia, based on provisions of the Constitution.
2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepares the necessary authorization document on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Iraq for the Minister of Commerce, in accordance with the approved contexts, and submits it to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers in order to obtain the signature of the Prime Minister.
3. Adding a clause in the aforementioned draft agreement, to be an alternative to the Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Iraq and the Government of the Republic of Zambia signed in 1979, ratified by Law No. (11 of 1980).

The Council also approved the draft law on the Republic of Iraq’s accession to the Paris Agreement in 1928, and the protocols attached to it, and referred it to the House of Representatives, based on the provisions of the Constitution, provided that it is accompanied by legal advice issued by the Council of State, based on the provisions of the Treaty Contracting Law No. 35 of 2015, And State Council Law No. 65 of 1976, as amended.  302 views 10/09/2023 – https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=36889

Points to Ponder on Riches and Wealth:

There is a burden of care in getting riches; fear in keeping them; temptation in using them; guilt is abusing them; sorrow in losing them; and a burden of account at last to be given concerning them. —
M Henry

Our wealth is often a snare to ourselves, and always a temptation to others. — Colton