Friday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 4-7-23
State Of Law: The 2023 Budget Deficit Is Very High And Worrisome
Iraq 12:56 – 2023-04-07 The leader of the State of Law coalition, Turki Jadaan, confirmed, on Friday, that Parliament seeks to reduce the budget deficit by 50%.
“The 2023 budget deficit is very high and worrisome at the same time,” Jadaan said in a press interview, pointing out that “there is an initial consensus in the House of Representatives to support the option of reducing it by 50%.” He added, “Reducing the deficit is a priority in order to avoid tying the budget under great pressure, with the state of instability in the oil sale market due to the international crises, which have become more powerful in recent years.”
He pointed out that “the second reading of the budget law will deal with many items, especially with the intensity of meetings by the Finance Committee in order to resolve all outstanding points.”
The House of Representatives completed the first reading of the budget law two days ago, in a positive step to speed up the resolution of the law. https://kirkuktv.net/AR/Details/14411
Parliamentary Finance Expects Approval Of The Draft Budget Law Until After Eid Al-Fitr
Economy 14:30 – 2023-04-07 A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee expected the approval of the draft financial budget law until after Eid Al-Fitr.
Jamal Cougar said: “Until now, it is not known how long the budget will need for approval, but we expect that it will need between 20 days to a month,” that is, after the blessed Eid al-Fitr holiday.
He added, “The preparation and legislation of the budget took the first half of the current year, so it does not lose its importance because this period from the operational side was spent on the basis of the State Administration Law 1/12.”
Cougar pointed out, “Only the investment side was affected, and this can be compensated by withdrawing its amounts.”
The House of Representatives had finished at dawn on Wednesday the first reading of the draft federal budget law for the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal years 1023, 2024 and 2025, and it is likely that it will proceed with the second reading in the coming days.
The government praised “the national and responsible position of the House of Representatives by completing the first reading of the draft general budget for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025.”
Government spokesman Basem Al-Awadi said in a statement, “This interaction clearly indicates a spirit of high understanding by the people’s representatives for the responsibility entrusted to them and their good appreciation for the conditions our country is going through and its urgent need to expedite the ratification of the budget, to take its way to implementation and enable the government to meet the needs.” essential for citizens. https://kirkuktv.net/AR/Details/14416
Parliamentary Finance Reveals The Files Included In The 2023 Budget Bill
Friday 07, April 2023 08:54 | Economical Number of readings: 448 Baghdad / NINA / Member of the Finance Committee, Representative Adnan Al-Zorfi, revealed the files included in the 2023 budget draft law.
Al-Zarfi said in a blog on his personal page on Facebook: “One of the joyful things in the 2023 budget that deals with very sensitive files is the inclusion of the largest water desalination project in Basra Governorate, at a total cost of $3. billion.
He added: “The draft budget also included the establishment of integrated specialized centers for the diagnosis and treatment of cancerous tumors at a cost of $130 million for the benefit of the Ministry of Health.”
He continued, “The allocations for the central Euphrates governorates reached their lowest levels in the 2023 budget.”
He pointed out: “The Ministry of Commerce’s budget has inflated at the expense of the Ministry of Agriculture and support for farmers within the 2023 budget.”
He pointed out: “The acquisition by the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works of most of the investment budget amounted to 4.9 trillion dinars, while the total budget for the development of the regions amounted to 2.5 trillion dinars within the 2023 budget.”
And he continued: “The budget for 2023 included the appointment of 729 thousand new employees in various ministries and governorates.”
Oil closes stable, but it is gaining for the third week after the OPEC + decision
2023.04.07 – Baghdad – Nas Oil prices closed little changed on Thursday, but recorded gains for the third week in a row, as markets oscillated between further production cuts targeted by OPEC+ and falling US oil inventories on the one hand, and concerns about the global economic outlook on the other.
Brent crude closed up 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $85.12 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude closed up nine cents, or 0.1 percent, to settle at $80.70. and a day off on Good Friday.
The two benchmarks jumped more than six percent this week after OPEC +, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, surprised the market on Sunday with pledges to cut production.
Hedge funds have been buying crude all week, returning to a “risk on” mode, said Dennis Kessler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.
Prices were supported by a sharper-than-expected decline in US crude inventories last week, the second consecutive week in which they have declined. Gasoline and distillate inventories also declined, indicating higher demand.
However, the gains were curtailed by US labor market data, which indicated a slowdown in economic growth, as well as slower-than-expected growth in the services sector in the United States.
Reuters https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=105176
Oil Achieves Gains For The Third Week.. Brent Crosses The $85 Mark
economy |Oil prices closed little changed yesterday, Thursday, but recorded gains for the third week in a row, as markets oscillated between further production cuts targeted by OPEC + and falling US oil inventories on the one hand, and concerns about the global economic outlook on the other .
Brent crude closed up 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $85.12 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude closed up nine cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $80.70.
The two benchmarks jumped more than 6% this week after OPEC +, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, surprised the market on Sunday with pledges to cut production .
Hedge funds have been buying crude all week, returning to a “risk on” mode, said Dennis Kessler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.
Prices were supported by a sharper-than-expected decline in US crude inventories last week, the second consecutive week in which they have declined. Gasoline and distillate inventories also declined, indicating higher demand .
However, the gains were curtailed by US labor market data, which indicated a slowdown in economic growth, as well as slower-than-expected growth in the services sector in the United States. LINK
Ina / The Council Of Ministers Approves The Economic Reform Law Legislation
April 7, 2023 9 Views Conscious / Baghdad / Today, Friday, the Minister of Industry, Khaled Battal Al-Najm, counted the suspended factories in the country, and while he made clear the impossibility of re-operating most of them, he announced obtaining the approval of the Council of Ministers to legislate a law under the name of economic reform .
Al-Najm said during a press conference carried by the reporter (Iraqi Media News Agency / INA) that “certain steps known to all have been taken in dealing with some contracts, and we also have a review of all partnership contracts amounting to 177 contracts.” At the ministry’s headquarters, in addition to stopping some contracts and trying to process some of them and referral, some of them are sent to the Inclusion Committee because there is a waste of public money. ”
He added, “The ministry works within a clear government program, and we adopt strategic industries in Iraq represented in iron and steel, fertilizers, petrochemicals, medicines, sulfur, phosphates, and electrical industries represented by transformers and electric cables. ”
And he continued: “As for other detailed industries, we leave room for the private sector to grow, especially as it is important in bringing about a shift in Iraqi industries, and the Ministry of Industry is not only concerned with government industries and companies, but rather sponsors, supports and cooperates with the private sector, but rather offers it over public companies in many cases.” of the detail industries .”
Regarding the stopped factories, Al-Najm said: “The stopped factories amount to 104 factories, most of which cannot be worked in because they are outdated and outside the default age, as most of them date from the sixties and fifties,” noting that “Some factories started working in them in the fifties, but they are still working, including Babylon Cement Factory, which started working in 1954, and Al-Rafidain Cement Factory in 1957. ”
And he added, “The old factories cannot be re-worked, but we went towards structuring some companies according to the government program, and we are currently working on restructuring (the General Company for Textiles and Leather, and the General Company for Food Industries ), and this does not mean canceling them or laying off workers, but we are studying the factories that are not suspended.” It is workable, either we refer it to investment, or we stop it and dispose of it in accordance with the laws that allow that.”
With regard to the ministry’s budget, the minister indicated that “the ministry’s budget includes two parts, the first of which is the operational part through which salaries and other regulated operational expenses are covered, and the second is the investment part, as there are projects It is under construction, and there are sums allocated for their completion, while new projects will not be completed.” We include, with the exception of important ruling projects,” stressing that “the Ministry of Industry is supposed to participate and contribute to financing the budget and not take it from it .”
And about the transformation from socialism and entering into privatization and capitalism, the star said: “Part of this issue is related to the clear laws of the constitution, and our constitution in 2005 was working towards the market, but some laws are still represented by trademarks in 1957, and the industrial investment law in 1998, and others .”
And he continued: “Two weeks ago, we agreed in the Council of Ministers to work on legislating a law called (the Economic Reform Law). We take all the paragraphs from the various laws that have problems with implementation, and we try to put them in one law that goes to the House of Representatives to be legislated. ”
He pointed out that “the holy shrines have industrial projects within the law, and they have industrial investment licenses,” stressing that “the ministry deals with the shrines and all the private sector in a spirit of cooperation, as these factories feed into the wheel.” of the national economy. ”
He pointed out that “the Popular Mobilization Authority established the Engineer Company, but it has not yet started with actual projects, as it was established recently,” stressing that “there is no objection to cooperation with the Engineer Company, the Holy Shrines and the private sector, as long as each specialization is preserved and there is no overlap in work and inclination to a company .”
He explained that “Iraq has a large import from Turkey and Iran, and it is not a commercial exchange. Part of this import is related to industries that we can establish in Iraq,” noting that “there is an intersection of interests and problems in the Iraqi industrial sector for several reasons, including the lack of raw materials and the other part is related to the lack of the availability of continuous electric power, as here there will be additional production costs on the factory, and part of it is relatively related to the strength of the Iraqi dinar, as the trader is looking for a strong dinar and the industrialist is looking For a weak dinar, and the stronger the dinar, the more trade will increase in the expense of industry, and thus foreign trade will increase .
