Economic expert Safwan Qusay warned of the danger of currency counterfeiting mafias, and while explaining the mechanism to confront them, he stressed the need to move to financial inclusion to protect the Iraqi economy from these mafias, whether internal or external.

Qusay said in an interview that the process of investigating the source of the counterfeit dinar is backed by parties trying to harm the reputation of the Iraqi dinar and trying to launder dirty money and obtain goods in exchange for this money.

He pointed out that the Central Bank is keen to track such networks, and the security services are trying to reconsider any source that could enter Iraq from abroad or to print such counterfeit money inside it.

He stressed that the issue is related to the ability to develop a device to track the movement of the Iraqi dinar in the market and there is a “Serial Number” for each category of the currency and the process of transitioning to financial inclusion and introducing money into the banking system and Iraqis dealing with credit cards will prevent counterfeiters and counterfeiters of this currency from pumping the counterfeit category into the market.

He explained that the more quickly and immediately we switch to dealing with credit cards at the private sector level, given that the government apparatus in many ministries has begun to apply such technologies in credit cards, ATMs and revenue receipt cards, it can deprive anyone who thinks of counterfeiting or forgery from entering the Iraqi market.

He explained that when the value of the currency increases, the process of counterfeiting and forgery becomes economically fragmented, and the Iraqi dinar is now fully covered, and certainly a large part of the countries in the region have been harmed, and the fluctuations in their currency prices may lead to the emergence of such mafias that print this counterfeit currency outside Iraq and pump it into the local market. In addition to educating those who receive the dinar about its type, we need to have an investigation system linked to the Internet to detect counterfeit currency.

He stressed that the seller should not only refuse to receive the counterfeit currency, but also ask the holder of this counterfeit currency to know where he got it from so that the security services can investigate the source of this counterfeit currency mass, whether it is locally printed or internationally.

He pointed out that the Central Bank is keen to compensate the holder of the counterfeit dinar if he is unaware of such distinction, and the more we encourage citizens to report with financial rewards, the more we can reach the party behind the counterfeiting.

 He added that counterfeiting tends towards the higher value, i.e. at the level of large denominations such as the large currency denominations of 50 thousand and 25 thousand, and we must encourage those who receive the Iraqi dinar to examine it and not only reject the counterfeit currency but also report the holder of this counterfeit currency to reach the perpetrator.

He noted that the dollar is counterfeited by international mafias and can be pumped into the informal market, so it is not detected by dealers, and dealers in the informal market may exploit it because they are unaware that there is a counterfeit dollar from countries that carry out counterfeiting at the international level.

He stressed the need to move towards financial inclusion to protect the Iraqi economy from these mafias, whether internal or external.

IMF: BRICS Economies Will Contribute More To Global Growth Than G7

Arabic and international   Economy News – Follow-up  The BRICS group of nations is expected to play a bigger role in boosting global economic growth than the richer Western economies, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest forecast.

Compared with forecasts made six months ago, the fund now sees a larger share of growth over the next five years coming from the powerful BRICS economies of China, India, Russia and Brazil, based on forecasts released this week that are based on purchasing power parity.

On the other hand, expectations have been lowered regarding the contribution of the Group of Seven major countries, such as the United States, Germany and Japan, to future economic growth.

World Economic Growth… Is It Heading Towards Greater Dependence On BRICS?

Arabic and international  Economy News – Follow-up  The global economy is increasingly dependent on the economic performance of the BRICS group of emerging economies rather than wealthier Western economies, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest forecasts.

According to a report published by Bloomberg and reviewed by Sky News Arabia, the International Monetary Fund now expects that the strong BRICS economies such as China, India, Russia and Brazil will contribute a greater share of growth over the next five years compared to previous expectations six months ago.

In contrast, expectations for G7 members such as the United States, Germany and Japan to contribute have been revised downward.

Iraq Development Fund: We Succeeded In Attracting Investments Worth $100 Billion

 The Prime Minister’s Advisor for Investment Affairs, Mohammed Al-Najjar, confirmed the government’s success in attracting investments worth $100 billion.

While explaining the most important features of the contract with Elsewedy Electric Company, which was recently signed, he confirmed that it includes investments worth $5 billion and the establishment of 3 industrial cities. Al-Najjar, who also holds the position of Director of the Iraq Development Fund, said in a press statement that Iraq has attracted more than $100 billion in direct investments during the past two years, and we are at the beginning of the road, and there are other projects with large sums and in various sectors.

He added that the recent contract with Elsewedy Electric Company is promising, and we expect its investments in Iraq to reach $5 billion spread across Iraq, and the contract with it includes opening a joint Iraqi-global fund specialized in introducing industry and advanced education to the country within projects to establish an industrial and economic city to attract investors in addition to other various projects.

He continued that the contract is pioneering in its kind and the main idea in it indicates that the fund enters as a representative of the Iraqi government and we open investment opportunities for Iraqi investors, Iraqi citizens and Gulf funds to prepare another fund to localize smart industry in Iraq.

He explained that there are three possibilities for the location of the economic city because we took into consideration that the city serves the workers and the cities and governorates surrounding the city and we are currently studying 3 regions in central and southern Iraq.

Earlier, the Iraq Development Fund announced last Monday the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Egyptian global company Elsewedy Electric, which aims, according to the fund, to establish an Iraqi investment fund under the name (the Settlement Fund) to attract local and international investments to develop strategic projects in various sectors, and also to develop economic alternatives in various fields such as agriculture, industry, and services to reduce dependence on oil.

The United Nations funds Iraq with $30 million to confront the effects of climate change

 The Ministry of Environment announced an environmental achievement that includes funding of (30) million dollars from the Green Climate Fund of the United Nations to support climate change-resistant agriculture in Iraq.

The ministry said in a statement that it “achieved an environmental achievement that includes funding of (30) million dollars from the United Nations Green Climate Fund to support climate change-resistant agriculture in Iraq.”

She added: “This came through the latest deliberations between the Iraqi technical team headed by the Technical Undersecretary of the Ministry of Environment, Jassim Abdul Aziz Hammadi, and the United Nations, which was able to approve and announce the signing of funding worth (30) million US dollars from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to implement the project “Enhancing Climate Resilience for Vulnerable Agricultural Livelihoods” in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).”

She stressed that “this achievement was made with the distinguished support of the Prime Minister and based on the directives of the Minister of Environment, Nizar Amedi, through continuous efforts with the Green Climate Fund, which is one of the compensatory mechanisms approved by the Paris Climate Agreement to help countries affected by climate change, including Iraq,”

noting that “this project will focus on promoting sustainable agriculture in the governorates of (Karbala, Najaf, and Muthanna) that are witnessing environmental fragility represented by land degradation, desertification, and shrinking agricultural area.”

She explained that “the signing meeting for the funding was held today online with the Board of Directors of the Green Climate Fund in Seoul, Korea, in the presence of representatives of the FAO, and in the presence of the Director General of the Technical Department, Najla Mohsen Al-Waili, the Director of the Climate Change Directorate, Youssef Mu’ayyad, and the Director of the Urban Environment Directorate, Muthanna Saloumi,”

 noting that “this funding is one of the largest international projects that aim to enhance the resilience of agricultural communities and prepare to confront the effects of climate change.”

She pointed out that “this project embodies Iraq’s commitment to implementing the government program in the areas of environment, climate, and renewable energy,” adding that “the Ministry of Environment, through the National Authority for the Green Climate Fund and the Directorate of Climate Change, is the coordinating and organizing body for these projects according to internationally approved forms.”

Report: Russia’s BRICS Grain Exchange Proposal Will Take Years

Wheat ears in a field in Russia. “Reuters”   Arabic and international  Economy News – Follow-up BRICS members welcomed a proposal by Moscow at the group’s summit in Kazan, Russia, this week to establish a new international grain exchange, but turning that proposal into reality could take years.

According to a report published by Reuters and reviewed by Sky News Arabia, Russia seeks to establish a grain exchange as part of a broader plan to launch new financial instruments, separate its trade from the dollar, and help Moscow avoid Western sanctions.

President Vladimir Putin said at the summit that the BRICS countries, which are among the world’s largest producers of grains, legumes and oilseeds, could establish this exchange and later expand it to include trade in other major commodities.

Leaders of the BRICS group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, approved the plan to establish the exchange.

Eduard Zernin, head of the Grain Exporters Union, whose members export 80 percent of Russia’s grain, said that based on the experience of creating the BRICS New Development Bank, launching the joint exchange would require years of preparatory work.

He pointed out that the proposed new stock exchange must have an international character to protect it from possible Western sanctions.

He added: “The main stage of the process has been completed, and the initiative to establish the stock exchange has been approved at the level of BRICS leaders.”

Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, has been seeking for years to develop its own mechanisms for pricing basic commodities to counter the dominance of Western exchanges, especially after global grain prices fell this year.