Iraq assumes presidency of Arab Investment Company’s Executive Board
The Iraqi Embassy in Libya announced today, Tuesday, that Iraq assumed the presidency of the Executive Board of the Arab Investment Company in 2025.
Chargé d’affaires ad interim of the embassy Ahmed Al-Sahaf told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that “in a prominent diplomatic step, Iraq succeeded in assuming the presidency of the Arab Investment Company during the sixty-third session of the Arab Economic and Social Council, which was held in the Jordanian capital Amman, to return to this position after an absence of 32 years,” noting that “Iraq has not been able to obtain the presidency of the aforementioned company since 1992.”
It is clear that “this achievement came in accordance with the joint coordination between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Industry and within the priorities of the government program of His Excellency Prime Minister Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani, and the emphasis of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein on repositioning Iraq’s role in regional and international organizations, within the multilateral diplomatic track, as well as the strategic planning and management that the Iraqi Ministry of Industry carved towards it, and in accordance with productive diplomacy, through intensive efforts led by the Iraqi Embassy in Tripoli headed by the Chargé d’affaires Ahmed Al-Sahaf, who was able to obtain decisive Libyan support to strengthen Iraq’s candidacy, through coordination with the head of the Investment Commission in the State of Libya, Abdul Hakim Al-Fitouri, who gave the vote of Libya to the Iraq it needed to decide winning the post.
He noted that “Iraq hosted the meetings of the company’s executive board in 2025 in Baghdad, a step aimed at strengthening Arab cooperation in the fields of industry and infrastructure, and consolidating Iraq’s position as a pivotal industrial center.”
===============================================================
Oil prices in holding pattern before US Fed’s decision
Oil prices were rangebound in early Asian trading on Tuesday as investors worried about Chinese demand and awaited further market direction from a US interest rate decision due on Wednesday.
US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 6c at $70.65 a barrel at 1.12 GMT, while Brent crude futures fell 1cto $73.90 a barrel.
Prices were “weighed on by profit-taking after last week’s 6% rally and a batch of disappointing Chinese economic data yesterday”, IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
On Monday, prices fell from multi-week highs on unexpected weakness in consumer spending data from China, despite strength in industrial output, and as investors moved into a holding pattern ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting.
The Fed will hold its last policy meeting of the year on Tuesday and Wednesday, where it is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point.
The meeting will also shed light on how much further officials think they will cut interest rates in 2025 and 2026, and whether the central bank will scale back easing in anticipation of higher inflatio under the incoming Trump administration.
Lower interest rates can boost economic growth and demand for oil.
===============================================================
An economic expert warns of a rise in the dollar exchange rate in Iraq in the coming days
Economic expert Nasser Al-Tamimi warned, today, Tuesday (December 17, 2024), of a rise in the dollar exchange rate in Iraq in the coming days.
Al-Tamimi said in a press statement, “There are real fears in the Iraqi market of the continued rise in the dollar exchange rate after the suspension of the platform by the Central Bank of Iraq,” indicating that “this matter will constitute a shock, especially at the beginning of implementing the decision and will lead to a rise in the dollar, to increase demand for it in the parallel market.”
He added that “after the platform is stopped, most traders, especially small ones, will depend on the parallel market to finance their foreign trade, while continuing to finance trade with Turkey in dollars, through illegal means,” noting that “this is what will lead to the rise, and therefore practical steps must be taken to prevent this by the country’s monetary authority, and urgently.”
The Central Bank of Iraq revealed on Wednesday (September 4, 2024) the mechanism for ending the electronic platform for foreign transfers, while indicating that the placement of foreign transfer operations and meeting requests for the dollar are on sound paths and consistent with international practices and standards.
The bank said in a statement that “the electronic platform for foreign transfers managed by the Central Bank of Iraq began at the beginning of 2023 as a first phase to reorganize financial transfers in a way that ensures proactive oversight of them instead of subsequent oversight by the Federal Reserve auditing daily transfers. This was an exceptional measure as the Federal Reserve does not usually do this, and a gradual shift was planned towards building direct relationships between banks in Iraq and foreign correspondent and approved banks, mediated by an international auditing company to conduct pre-audit of transfers before they are executed by correspondent banks.”
He added that “during the year 2024 and until now, 95% of the transfer process from the electronic platform to the mechanism of correspondent banks directly between it and Iraqi banks has been achieved, which means that only about 5% of it remains within the platform, which will be transferred using the same mechanism before the end of this year and according to the plan,” explaining that “some expectations about potential impacts on the exchange rate and transfer operations are baseless, because the process will not be sudden or in one batch at the end of this year, but rather it was originally achieved during the past period with effort and careful follow-up, except for the remaining small percentage that will be completed in the coming short period.”
He stressed that “trade with the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, India and China represents about 70% of Iraq’s foreign trade as (imports), which prompted the Central Bank of Iraq to find channels for transfer in euros, Chinese yuan, Indian rupees, and Emirati dirhams, through accredited correspondent banks in those countries, and (13) Iraqi banks have actually begun conducting transfer operations with a pre-audit mechanism that has been agreed upon and approved in addition to transfers in dollars.”
He continued: “With the provision of channels for personal transfers for legitimate purposes and external purchases through electronic payment channels and international money transfer companies and cash sales to travelers, and the payment of cash dollars for incoming transfers to the parties and purposes specified in the Central Bank’s published instructions.”
The Central Bank of Iraq stressed that it “put foreign transfer operations and meeting dollar demands on sound tracks consistent with international practices and standards and the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law.”
Explaining that “providing the aforementioned channels for all purposes at the official dollar price makes this price the true indicator of economic practices, which is proven by the reality of price stability and control of inflation, and any other price traded outside of these channels is an abnormal price that those with unorthodox or illegal practices resort to, who avoid official channels in their dealings, and bear the additional costs alone by purchasing at a higher price than the official price to delude others with the difference between the official price and the other.”
