Sunday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 3-26-23
Parliamentary Finance: The Budget Did Not Reach Us, And Its Deficit Is Very Worrying
1,053 A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Hussein Moanis, confirmed, on Saturday, that the committee did not formally review the budget, and it did not start studying the project and reviewing it, except for what was nominated for it.
Moanes said in a press interview, which was seen by “Takadam”, that “the budget reached the presidency of the Council, and it has not reached the Finance Committee until now.” He added that there has been significant inflation in the budget for three consecutive years.
And he indicated that “the government curriculum talks about balancing a program, and what we have in our hands is a budget for three years, and when it reaches the Parliamentary Finance Committee, it will be discussed.”
He added, “What we care about now is the oppressed and disadvantaged classes that have suffered from marginalization, whether civilian examiners or lecturers, as well as members of the popular crowd, and we seek to include them in the 2023 budget.”
And he stressed that “the financial deficit in the budget is very large and disturbing, which requires stopping the study of the budget and reducing the deficit significantly.”
https://takadum-news.com/archives/156174
Al-Sudani Confirms That Iraq Will Continue To Establish Effective Economic Relations
Political | 05:34 – 03/25/2023 Baghdad – Mawazine News , Prime Minister Muhammad Shia Al-Sudani affirmed today, Saturday, that Iraq will continue to establish effective economic relations that contribute to the construction of infrastructure and open the doors of investment and partnership to all friends.
The media office of the Prime Minister stated in a statement, a copy of which was received by Mawazine News, that “Al-Sudani received a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron,” noting that “the contact witnessed discussions between the two sides on ways to strengthen bilateral relations, continue work and economic partnership and expand it for what It is in the interest of both countries.”
Al-Sudani assured the French President, “Iraq will continue to establish effective economic relations that contribute to the construction of infrastructure, and open the doors of investment and partnership to all friends, within an effective economic and service program.”
The French President praised, according to the statement, “the growing relations between the two friendly countries, in various fields, and the increasing level of cooperation towards building economic partnerships that contribute to achieving mutual interests, in a way that enhances the development path of the two countries and the prosperity of their peoples.” Ended 29 / m99
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=222839
Iraq Lost More Than 20 Billion Dollars Due To The Delay In Signing The Fifth Licensing Round For Oil Fields
Deputy for / NINA /: Saturday 25 March 2023 18:22 | Economical Number of readings: 469 Kut / NINA / – A member of the Parliamentary Oil Committee, MP for Wasit, Basem Nghimesh Al-Gharibawi, confirmed that the delay in the procedure for signing the fifth licensing round for joint oil fields with neighboring countries caused losses to Iraq that exceeded $20 billion.
Al-Gharibawi told the National Iraqi News Agency ( NINA ) that the countries sharing with Iraq in these fields (Iran and Kuwait) worked to invest the resources of the fields over the years, which caused these losses. He added that this tour was supposed to be the first or the second, due to its importance in enhancing the national economy of Iraq’s almost complete dependence on oil revenues./ It’s over.
Parliamentary Efforts To Include A Budget For Social Welfare
Iraq 2023/03/26 Muhannad Abdel Wahhab Parliamentary committees and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs are concerted efforts to reach all beneficiaries covered by the social protection system, according to instructions issued by the government after a field survey for the purpose of involving families who were unable to apply through the electronic form.
The head of the Social Protection Authority in the Ministry, Ahmed Al-Moussawi, said: “The field survey procedures have reached the third stage, with the number of applicants amounting to more than one million and 700 thousand families,” noting that the authority “began to reach 17 districts, and the field teams moved to 57 districts, and after completing The budget process will implement procedures to include the poorest districts, as we have decided to move to all regions.”
Al-Moussawi added, in an interview with “Al-Sabah,” that “the goal is to reach the poor areas after we put in our plans many areas, including 70 districts,” explaining that “our goal is to reach families who could not submit electronically and had not previously submitted an electronic form.” On this basis, the campaign will continue until next week, after we were able to reach 500,000 families and enter them into the database.”
The head of the Social Protection Authority added that “the current goal within the next four months is to complete the field survey procedures for families,” pointing out that “the number of participating researchers in Baghdad and the governorates has reached two thousand social researchers with the addition of 400 social researchers, while we will witness the participation of 2500
Additional Social Researcher.
Al-Moussawi stated, “The social research process continues until the completion of the form for all applicants, in addition to the field survey work, and for this we are awaiting the approval of the general budget to launch the first group of those covered by the social protection system.”
In turn, Ibtisam al-Hilali, a member of the Women, Family and Childhood Committee and a member of the Legal Committee, said that “allocations for those covered by social care amounted to 7 trillion dinars,” noting that “the government’s approach is focused on caring for this segment.”
And Al-Hilali continued, in an interview with “Al-Sabah” that “the women’s and legal committees support the ministry to meet the requests and needs of citizens from the elderly, divorced, widows, the disabled, and those who need a social care salary in the budget, and we are looking for a special budget for the Ministry of Labor to support those who are eligible in the network.”
Social Welfare ” . Edited by: Ali Abdel-Khalek https://alsabaah.iq/73969-.html
Parliament Is Looking For Resources To Bridge The Budget Deficit Of 64 Trillion Dinars
Economy , 03/26/2023 10:08 , number of readings: 180 Baghdad – Iraq today: The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed four resources that contribute to bridging the 2023 budget deficit, which amounts to 64 trillion dinars.
Committee member Moeen Al-Kazemi said, “The investment of associated and free gas was discussed during the visit of Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani to Germany and France,” noting that “there is a great desire of the European Union to enter this sector and work to deliver it to Europe through pipelines through Turkey.”
Al-Kadhimi added, “Treating associated gas and benefiting from it instead of burning it over the past decades is a priority today,” pointing out that “exploiting associated gas needs more time and cannot be included in the 2023 budget as revenues, but will need financial allocations to rehabilitate and control it, and thus Associated gas can be included in the imports of 2024 and 2025 in order for Iraq to dispense with importing gas from neighboring countries.
Regarding the budget for the current year, he explained that “the deficit is in the range of 64 trillion Iraqi dinars, as the Ministry of Finance presented the budget, including an offer to cover the deficit through four resources,” explaining that “the first resource is the difference between the actual oil sale price with the price approved in the budget of $70.” While it is sold for 80 dollars, here 10 dollars is a financial abundance that can increase revenues from 146 to higher.
He added, “The second resource is the possibility of exporting an additional 200 thousand barrels of oil, which is another source instead of three million and 700 thousand barrels, in addition to the financial abundance of the state treasury from previous years, and there are approximately more than 20 trillion dinars that can be used as financial abundance, loans, and others.”
The deficit can be covered from it,” pointing out that “the Finance Committee will work to reduce the deficit, because the budget was drawn up for three years and negative possibilities such as the drop in the oil price must be taken into account, and for this the operational budget can be reduced and the investment budget supported, with a period of study in the House of Representatives that may exceed 45 days in the long term.
Regarding the funds of the Emergency Food Security Law and the follow-up of their disbursement, he indicated that “some of the law’s funds were disbursed and others are still in the government’s accounts, and there are 9 trillion Iraqi dinars allocated for the development of the regions and were not spent in 2022 because time was limited.” LINK
A Significant Decrease In The Exchange Rates Of The Dollar In The Baghdad Markets
Economy |Today, 10:24 Baghdad today – Baghdad Today, Sunday, the exchange rates of the dollar against the dinar recorded a significant decrease in exchange shops in the capital, Baghdad .
The (Baghdad Today) correspondent said, “The Al-Kifah and Al-Harithiya stock exchanges recorded an exchange rate of 154,200 dinars for every 100 dollars .”
He added, “The exchange rates of the dollar decreased in exchange shops and local markets in Baghdad, where the selling price reached 155,000, while the purchase price reached 153,500 for every 100 dollars.” LINK
The Decline In Gold Prices In The Markets Of Baghdad And Its Stability In The Markets Of Erbil
“Foreign and Iraqi gold prices decreased in the local markets in the capital, Baghdad, while they stabilized in the markets of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, today, Sunday, (March 26, 2023).
Also, the gold prices in the wholesale markets on Al-Nahr Street in the capital, Baghdad, recorded this morning. The selling price for one 21-carat weight of Gulf, Turkish and European gold was 423 thousand dinars, and the purchase price was 419 thousand dinars, while the selling prices for yesterday, Saturday, were 428 thousand dinars for one weight.
In addition, the selling price of one 21-carat weight of Iraqi gold also recorded stability at 393 thousand dinars, and the purchase price reached 389 thousand.
With regard to gold prices in goldsmiths’ shops, the selling price of the 21-carat Gulf gold weight ranges between 425 thousand dinars and 435 thousand, while the selling price of the Iraqi gold weight ranged between 395 thousand and 405 thousand dinars.
As for gold prices in Erbil, they have stabilized, as the price of 24 carat gold sold 495 thousand dinars, 22 carat recorded 455 thousand dinars, 21 carat sold 440 thousand dinars, while 18 carat sold 370 thousand dinars. LINK
Al-Darraji: The Government’s Measures Stopped The Exchange Rate’s Plan To Reach 200,000 Dinars
Money and business Economy News – Baghdad The technical advisor to the Prime Minister, Muhammad Sahib al-Darraji, considered that the measures taken by the government stopped the “scheme” for the dollar exchange rate to reach 200 thousand dinars for every 100 dollars.
Al-Darraji said in a televised interview, followed by “Al-Iqtisad News”, that “the budget will be annual in terms of revenues and expenditures,” noting that “the budget is directed towards the health, education and energy sectors.”
He added, “The exchange rate was the main reason for the delay in sending the budget,” explaining that “half of the deficit in the budget is due to the conversion of the exchange rate.”
Al-Darraji went on to say that “the government’s measures stopped the scheme for the exchange rate to reach 200,000 dinars (for every 100 dollars).” https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=33125
Al-Abadi: The Violations Of The US Army In Iraq Are Massive And Were The Root Of The Problems
Today 10:28 Information / Baghdad.. Former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi accused, on Sunday, the US army of committing grave crimes against humanity in Iraq, indicating that America occupied Iraq without implementing its promises regarding its reconstruction plan and floundering a lot in decisions.
Al-Abadi said in a televised interview, followed by Al-Maalouma, that “the plan for the reconstruction of Iraq after the occupation by the American side has been completely absent, which indicates the confusion of the American decisions towards Baghdad.”
He added, “After the invasion of Iraq, we discovered that there was no plan for the reconstruction of the country after the war, and its forces caused a major violation of human rights against Iraqis, which caused successive crises other than the democratic claim and freedom.”
He explained that “terrorism has caused successive disasters and crises, causing double problems in Iraq and delaying any economic, political and developmental reforms in the country for twenty years.” LINK
Parliamentary Finance Is Considering Reducing The Allocations Of Ministries In The Budget
Political | 09:34 – 03/26/2023 Baghdad – Mawazine News, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Hussein Moanis, confirmed, on Sunday, that his committee has set a schedule to host the ministries and concerned authorities in order to find out the allocations allocated in the budget for each ministry.
Moanes said, “One of the core of his committee’s work is to discuss the allocations allocated in the budget,” noting that “some ministries believe that their budgets are inappropriate or inconsistent with the ministerial curriculum adopted by the government.”
Moanes added, “Because of the large sums, the hosting has been scheduled to discuss the possibility of reducing it, and the finance minister and the governor of the central bank will be at the head of the figures that will be discussed.”
He continued, “We are entrusted with distributing the people’s money in a fair manner and supervising the disbursement,” noting that “the procedures applied by his committee are within its national responsibility, in order to be accurate in making any decision.”
Moanes pointed out that “the Finance Committee demanded the final accounts, but only two years’ accounts were sent, and we are waiting for more,” according to the official newspaper.
On the 13th of March, the Council of Ministers approved the draft budget law for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025, which is the highest in the history of Iraq, with a value exceeding 197 trillion dinars, based on the price of oil at $70, while the deficit amounted to 63 trillion dinars. Ended 29/N33
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=222883
