The World Gold Council announced on Saturday that Iraq has bought about 52 tons of gold during the past three years.

According to the latest schedule published in September by the Council and reviewed by Shafaq News Agency, “Iraq bought 51.9 tons of gold during the previous years from 2022 until September 2024.”

He added, “Iraq bought 33.9 tons of gold in 2022, 12.3 tons in 2023, and 5.7 tons in 2024, including 3.1 tons in February and 2.6 tons in May.”

The World Gold Council is headquartered in the United Kingdom, has extensive experience and deep knowledge of the factors that cause market change, and its members consist of the largest and most advanced gold mining companies in the world.

List Of Gold And Dollar Prices In Local Markets In Iraq

Economy |Today   Baghdad Today – Baghdad    Baghdad Today publishes a list of the dollar exchange rates against the Iraqi dinar, and gold prices in local markets, today, Saturday (September 14, 2024), as the dollar exchange rates witnessed a slight decline in the markets, after recording an increase in the stock exchanges and markets at the end of last week.

The gold prices in the markets were as follows:

A 21-caliber weight costs 550 thousand dinars

An 18-gauge weight is worth 470 thousand dinars

A 22-caliber weight costs 575 thousand dinars

A 24-caliber weight costs 628 thousand dinars

A 21-carat lira costs 550 thousand dinars

While the exchange rates of the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar in three governorates were as follows:

Baghdad:    Selling price: 150,100    Purchase price: 149,600

Erbil:    Selling price: 150,250    Purchase price: 149,850

Basra:   Selling price: 150,000    Purchase price: 149,000

Iraqi Banks Are In Crisis: Structural Imbalance, Double Taxation And Deep Corruption

Inside the Central Bank of Iraq in Baghdad, March 25, 2024 (Mohammed al-Rubaie/AFP)

Iraqi banks suffer from many problems related to their organizational structure , and face widespread crises and risks due to the largely unstable monetary and investment environment, which prompted the US Treasury to monitor a number of private banks and ban many of them, while corruption that is deeply rooted in the economy poses an ongoing challenge to the sector.

Iraq has eight government banks , and the structure of the Iraqi private banking sector consists of 32 Islamic banks and 28 commercial banks. Samir Al-Nusairi, advisor to the Iraqi Private Banks Association, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed: “The number of private bank branches is around 500 branches inside and outside Iraq, and they have expanded and developed technically according to modern electronic banking systems.”

Al-Nusairi pointed out that the private banking sector in Iraq faces operational challenges, most notably the US sanctions imposed on 32 banks, preventing them from using the US dollar in banking transactions, which affected their local and international activities and harmed the national economy.

He pointed out that the most important obstacles facing banks currently are technical, financial and administrative in the procedures and instructions for digital transformation, which requires providing full support for this transformation process and using electronic payment tools in government, mixed and private institutions, and setting a time frame for the complete transition from the use of paper money to electronic payment.

He added that the private banking sector suffers from the differentiation between it and the government banking sector, and also suffers from weak activity and low liquidity, deposits, revenues and profitability in most banks, especially the 32 banks against which sanctions were issued, in addition to the decline in the shares of most banks in the trading market in the Iraq Stock Exchange.

Iraqi banking crises

Al-Nusairi stated that private banks also suffer from double taxation, as the Tax Department in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, for example, imposes on the branches of private banks in the region (their number exceeds 70 branches) to pay the annual tax, while these banks, according to the current Federal Tax Authority Law, pay the same tax centrally in Baghdad.

Al-Nusairi stressed the necessity for the Iraqi Council of Ministers to resolve the issue in the region and put an end to double taxation, and for tax collection to be centralized according to the law and for the audited final accounts submitted to the General Tax Authority to be adopted as a basis for tax accounting.

The Budget Is Exposed To 3 Strong Shocks.. A Representative Reveals The Extent Of Its Impact On Liquidity And State Obligations

Baghdad Today – Baghdad   Member of the Finance Committee, Mustafa Jabbar Sand, revealed today, Friday (September 13, 2024), that the budget was exposed to 3 strong shocks, while he determined the extent of their impact on liquidity and the state’s obligations.

Sand said in a post on Facebook, which was followed by “Baghdad Today”, that “the budget is exposed to three strong shocks, which will greatly affect the liquidity and obligations of the state.”

He added, “The first point is the decline in oil prices, as the budget set oil prices at $80 per barrel, assuming that there is an increase in prices (70 + 10). To facilitate the calculation, every dollar that falls below the set price causes a loss of $100 million per month, and if the decline continues for a whole year, the loss is $1.2 billion. This is if Iraqi oil is sold at a discount of one dollar from $80.

What if Iraqi oil is sold today at $68 per barrel? The monthly loss is $1.2 billion, and the annual loss is $14.4 billion if the price continues for a whole year.”

Sand explained that “the second point is OPEC’s reduction, because the region exports about 200 thousand barrels per day via tankers and about 60 thousand barrels for local consumption, OPEC asked Iraq to reduce production by about 200 thousand barrels from national production, and the value of the loss of the reduction is estimated at 480 million dollars per month, and if it continues for a whole year, it is estimated at 5.7 billion dollars.”

He explained that “the third point is the failure to hand over the region’s oil revenues to the center, as the budget stipulated the region’s commitment to export 400 thousand barrels per day, and its annual loss due to this violation is estimated at 11.6 billion dollars,” noting that “the total losses above are estimated at 31.5 billion dollars, equivalent to 41 trillion dinars, which represents 70% of the total public salaries of the state.

The first point is caused by someone outside the will of everyone, and the second and third are borne by the prime minister and his government, and everyone who heard about it and accepted it.”

Al-Sudani’s Advisor: The Government’s Internal Debt Decreased By Two Trillion Dinars

The Prime Minister’s Advisor for Economic Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, stated that the government’s internal debt has decreased by two trillion Iraqi dinars.

 Mazhar Muhammad Salih said, “Iraq is not among the countries with external debt at the present time,” indicating that “the external public debt is less than 10 billion dollars, and this will be paid over the course of time between now and 2028.”

 He explained that “there are allocations in the general budget to pay off debts, and this is what has made Iraq always in the credit rating and creditworthiness at level B, and it is stable like many countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan and others.”

 Mazhar Muhammad Salih noted that “this debt has decreased, because Iraq has not borrowed and its external loans are few compared to its many repayments, especially during the past ten years on a regular basis.”

Parliamentarian Reveals The Extent Of The Budget’s Impact On Liquidity And State Obligations: It Is Exposed To 3 Strong Shocks

  Member of the Finance Committee, Mustafa Jabbar Sand, revealed that the budget was exposed to three strong shocks, while he specified the extent of their impact on liquidity and the state’s obligations.

Sand said in a post on Facebook, “The budget is exposed to three strong shocks that will greatly affect the state’s liquidity and obligations.”

The first point is the decline in oil prices, as the budget set oil prices at $80 per barrel, assuming that there is an increase in prices (70 + 10), and to facilitate the calculation, every dollar that falls below the set price causes a loss of $100 million per month, and if the decline continues for a whole year, the loss is $1.2 billion.

This is if Iraqi oil is sold at a discount of one dollar from $80, so what if Iraqi oil is sold today at $68 per barrel? The monthly loss is $1.2 billion, and the annual loss is $14.4 billion if the price continues for a whole year,” he added.

Sand explained that “the second point is OPEC’s reduction, because the region exports about 200 thousand barrels per day via tankers and about 60 thousand barrels for local consumption, OPEC asked Iraq to reduce production by about 200 thousand barrels from national production, and the value of the loss of the reduction is estimated at 480 million dollars per month, and if it continues for a whole year, it is estimated at 5.7 billion dollars.”

He explained that “the third point is the failure to hand over the region’s oil revenues to the center, as the budget stipulated that the region is committed to exporting 400,000 barrels per day, and its annual loss due to this violation is estimated at $11.6 billion,” noting that “the total losses above are estimated at $31.5 billion, equivalent to 41 trillion dinars, which represents 70% of the total public salaries of the state.

The first point is caused by someone outside the will of everyone, and the second and third are borne by the prime minister and his government, and everyone who heard about it and accepted it.”