Restructuring Iraqi banks.. A government plan to protect the financial sector
The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed today, Wednesday, that the government and the monetary authority are working on a comprehensive reform of the national banking system, with the aim of enhancing its stability and protecting it from the repercussions of any stumbling block in integration with the global financial system.
Saleh explained to {Euphrates News} that “the reform efforts include restructuring private and government banks, noting that the American company Oliver Wyman is currently studying the conditions of private banks, while E&Y is evaluating government banks, to come up with a unified vision aimed at developing the banking sector and ensuring its effective integration into the international financial system.”
Financial expert: Bond offering helps support Iraq’s cash deficit
Financial expert and former Director General of the Central Bank of Iraq, Mahmoud Dagher, explained on Wednesday that issuing financial bonds helps support the cash deficit and is a debt on the government.
Dagher told Shafaq News Agency, “The process of issuing financial bonds does not require a financial deficit, as bonds are often issued for the purpose of providing financial tools and encouraging the financial market in the country.”
He added that “the bonds offered by the Ministry of Finance help support the deficit, which may be temporary and not permanent,” indicating that “the amount of bonds that the Ministry of Finance will receive is a debt owed to it and to the government.”
On February 5, the Federal Ministry of Finance announced the launch of national bonds (first issue) for public subscription, with a total value of two trillion Iraqi dinars, for the period from February 10 to March 10, 2025.
The Ministry of Finance also offered, in the middle of last year, government bonds under the name “Injaz” for public subscription, in the category of 500 thousand dinars, for a period of two years with an annual interest of 6.5 percent paid every six months, and a bond in the category of one million dinars for a period of four years with an annual interest of 8.5 percent paid every six months.
