Tuesday AM Iraq Economic News Highlights 8-16-22
Iraq and the United States discuss efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing[/size]
Iraq 15:52 – 08-15-2022 Today, Monday, the Governor of the Central Bank, Mustafa Ghaleb Mokheb, discussed with the US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski, efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
A statement by the Central Bank stated, “The Governor of the Central Bank, Mustafa Ghaleb, received the US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski, and her accompanying delegation.”
Mokhif reviewed “the efforts of the Central Bank to support development through monetary policy tools and the direct impact of its initiatives on the real sector march, job creation and sustainability, in addition to the efforts made in combating money laundering and terrorist financing by adopting an integrated legal system and effectively applying it to sectors that may be used.” in committing it.
He stressed, “the importance of cooperation between the two countries in terms of monetary policy and activating financial instruments.”
For her part, the ambassador affirmed “its support for the Central Bank and its independence and to contribute to the training of its employees through financial institutions that have continuous partnerships with the Central Bank.”
She pointed to “the success of the central bank’s policy and modern methods of managing it, which was manifested in the indicators of monetary and gold reserves.”
The governor thanked the US financial and banking institutions for protecting the Iraqi financial and banking system and supporting them in applying the best international standards, as well as for their support, technical expertise and training for Central Bank employees. https://kirkuktv.net/AR/Details/8196
OPEC Obliges Iraq To Raise Its Oil Production Ceiling
Economie 10:39 – 08-16-2022 The Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) announced, on Tuesday, Iraq’s commitment to the decisions of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to increase oil production.
The company’s general manager, Alaa Khader al-Yasiri, told the official newspaper, “The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) recently obligated Iraq to increase its oil exports to 3 million and 800,000 barrels per day,” noting that “this increase cannot affect the strategic oil reserves.”
He added that “the increase in Iraq’s exports is directly proportional to the increase in production levels planned within the (OPEC) agreement and the countries allied with it.”
And he indicated that “the amount of oil exported for the month of July amounted to 102 million and 385 thousand and 49 barrels, with initial revenues of 10 billion and 541 million and 594 thousand and 258 dollars.”
Al-Yasiri explained that “the company’s policy is limited to its dealings with companies that own refineries, to achieve the fair value of Iraqi crude oil sales, as it markets crude oil and gas for the purpose of reaching its goals by contracting to sell crude oil available for export with standard contracts that apply to all customers according to approved and well-known standards in the global market.
And in light of the quantities available for export and a unified price formula for all buyers within the same market, known as the official announced price.” https://kirkuktv.net/AR/Details/8205
Oil Prices Are Falling Again
Economie 2022-08-16 | 02:04 814 views Oil prices fell on Tuesday, after disappointing economic data from China, the largest buyer of crude, revived fears of a global recession.
Brent crude futures fell 73 cents, or 0.8%, to $94.37 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 44 cents, or 0.5%, to $88.97 a barrel.
Oil futures tumbled about 3% during the previous session, and the Chinese central bank cut interest rates on lending to revive demand after data showed an unexpected slowdown in the economy in July, with factory and retail activity contracting due to Beijing’s strict policy (zero Covid) and a real estate crisis.
The market is also awaiting industry data on US crude stocks, due later on Tuesday. LINK
Low Oil Prices
Economie| 08:52 – 16/08/2022 Baghdad – Mawazine News: Oil prices fell by more than $4 a barrel today, Tuesday, due to concerns about demand in China, the largest importer of crude in the world, and before Iran’s response to a proposed nuclear agreement that may raise the country’s oil exports.
Brent crude futures fell $4.75, or 4.84%, to $93.40 a barrel by 1201 GMT, after losing 1.5 percent on Friday.
US West Texas Intermediate crude fell $4.52, or 4.91%, to $87.57, after falling 2.4 percent in the previous session.
Government data showed that China’s economy unexpectedly slowed in July, while refinery production fell to 12.53 million barrels per day, the lowest level since March 2020.
Oil prices fell at the beginning of the session due to the resumption of production in several US offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico after Brief break last week.
Oil prices rose more than 3% last week, after damage to a pipeline disrupted production at several offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
A Louisiana port official said producers moved to reactivate some stalled production after repairs were completed late Friday. https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=202581
The Salt Tongue Invades The Shatt Al-Arab And Reaches Unprecedented Levels
Posted On2022-08-16 By Sotaliraq Baghdad / Mustafa Al-Jourani The Shatt al-Arab, in southern Iraq, suffers from a significant increase in salinity rates. Which portends a new water crisis in the country, amid calls for quick solutions to this crisis. The Shatt al-Arab consists of the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, north of Basra Governorate, and as a result of the drop in the water level from the upstream countries (Turkey and Iran), the Shatt al-Arab receives the salty waters of the Persian Gulf, according to observers.
According to the standards of the World Health Organization, the percentage of salinity in drinking water should not exceed 500 degrees of the “TDS” standard, while the salinity in Basra exceeds this number.
Figures and Statistics
Zuhair Jawad, Basra Water Director, said, in an interview with Al-Mada, that “the rise in salts in the Shatt Al-Arab was due to the decline in releases from the regulator of Qal’at Saleh in Maysan Governorate; As well as the closure of the Karun River flow from the Iranian side; Which led to the entry of the salt tide from the Arabian Gulf into the Shatt al-Arab.”
Jawad added, “The solutions proposed and are being worked on are the use of the Marashnah in Abu Al-Khasib from the Mahila desalination plant, the Al-Abbas project and the irrigation canal, and the use of water from the irrigation canal for the Sihan and Al-Faw regions; As well as the use of Al-Marashna for the city center from the water of the Al-Abbas project; As well as the operation of the Japanese project at approximately 60% of its capacity, and in the Shatt al-Arab, the irrigation canal of the district center is used, the central project.”
Regarding salinity rates in the Shatt al-Arab, he pointed out that “the rise reached nearly a third to half of what it reached in 2018, which is The year in which the salts reached record proportions that they did not reach previously.”
Ministerial Attachment
Meanwhile, the Director of Water Resources in Basra Governorate, Jumaa Shaya, said, “The waters of the Shatt al-Arab have recently recorded a significant increase in salinity, and the main reason for this is the tide coming from the Arab Gulf states due to climatic changes and weather disturbances that occurred in the Gulf states. Arab countries, namely the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iran.
He pointed out, in a statement followed by (Al-Mada), that “climatic changes such as rain, torrential rain and floods that occur these days in the Arab Gulf countries have affected the Basra Governorate in a large and direct way, because the Shatt Al-Arab is directly linked to the Arabian Gulf,” noting that “the tide in such weather disturbances The climate is enormous and very high, so the salinity rate in the Shatt al-Arab water increases.”
The government official explained that “there is a rapid trend to reduce the high level of salinity in the waters of the Shatt al-Arab, including an increase in the rate of water releases quickly, reaching 94 cubic meters per second.” The United Nations warned, earlier, of a drop in the level of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq by up to 73 percent, and also called for Iraq’s participation in meaningful discussions with neighboring countries on water sharing.
Solutions To The Crisis
In addition, Nasir Abdul-Ridha, an expert in the field of agriculture and water, said, “The percentage of salinity in the Shatt al-Arab exceeded the permissible figures globally, and this portends a new environmental catastrophe for Iraq.”
Speaking to Al-Mada, Abdul-Ridha added that “the increase in water releases, especially by the Iranian side, is the most prominent solution now for the Iraqi government to overcome the salinity crisis in the Shatt Al-Arab.” The water expert suggested the construction of a dam on the Shatt al-Arab in order to raise the two sides of the Shatt al-Arab to prevent the entry and exit of water into the Gulf, and thus can control salinity.
It is noteworthy that the current President of the Republic, Barham Salih, confirmed that climate change will push Iraq towards a water deficit of 10.8 billion cubic meters by 2035.
The Director of the National Center for Water Resources Management, Hatem Hamid, had said in previous statements, “The Ministry of Water Resources is subjected to two types of water abuse.” Hamid added, “The abuses are sometimes by citizens, and at other times they are by local administrations.”
Hamid explained, “One of the abuses of the local administration is what the governor of Babylon did a while ago by opening a regulator, but this problem was solved and the regulator was reorganized according to the operational plans prepared by the Ministry of Water Resources.”
And he stated, “A part of the citizens who are in the rivers consume more water than the water rations allocated to them, which reduces the quotas of those in the back of the rivers.”
Hamid continues, “The ministry is carrying out a campaign to remove abuses, as during this year we were able to reduce abuses in order to deliver water quotas to the rivers.” He spoke about “the possibility of saying that of abuse is much lower than it was in previous years.” LINK
Trading Volume Decreased By 67% In The Iraqi Stock Exchange During The Month Of July
Posted On2022-08-16 By Sotaliraq Baghdad, Iraq. August 15, 2022.
Political events in Iraq with the faltering of government formation four months after the parliamentary elections contributed to a challenge for the stock market in the Iraqi financial market, as trading volumes decreased by 67% for the month of July.
According to Tugba Tan Karakaya, an analyst in the research department at Rabie Securities: “With the Eid al-Adha holiday and the current political crisis, and the protests in Iraq, it is no wonder that we are witnessing a weakness in trading volumes, as investors wait to see what these accumulations will lead to and the solution in the end. Ultimately, it may take a few weeks to figure e industry sector with 17.0% of the total trading. LINK
Nassif Calls For Stopping The Aviation Authority’s Contract With A Company Dealing With The “Israeli” Entityout which direction Iraq is headed. Despite this bleak picture, we saw an increase in foreign exchange of 16.6% in July compared to the previous month.”
The figures indicate that 35.5% of the trading volume was related to the banking sector, followed by the telecommunications sector with 18.7%, and then th
Political | 12:17 – 16/08/2022 Baghdad – Mawazine News MP Alia Nassif demanded, today, Tuesday, the Federal Integrity Commission, the Public Prosecution and the Federal Financial Supervision Bureau to stop the aviation authority’s contract with a company dealing with the Israeli entity.
Nassif said in a statement that Mawazine News received a copy of it, that “the Civil Aviation Authority, represented by its general manager, Nael Saad Abdel Hadi, intends to contract with this company, and is putting pressure on the director of the legal department and the director of the contracts department because of their refusal to contract with this company because it does not meet the conditions of the tender.
Regarding the issue of security protection at Baghdad International Airport, as similar works were not presented at international airports supported by certificates issued by those airports and certified by Iraqi embassies.
The statement added, “This company was established in 2014, which means that it has no experience in this field, and its CEO is (Hafiz Oki) of Afghan origin and has asylum in Canada. In addition, this company has dealings with the Israeli occupation through Barakat Company.” .
And he indicated that “the Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority lobbied to compel the Director of the Legal Department and the Director of the Contracts Department to pass the contract with this company despite the violations, with the assistance of his office manager.”
Nassif demanded “to open an investigation on the matter with everyone whose name was mentioned in the matter and seeks to hand over the security of Baghdad Airport to such unreformed companies.” Ended 29 / M 99 https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=202598
Baghdad investment: the visit of the delegation of the Iraqi Media Network to the Commission and to see the mechanism of investment in the capital
Posted On2022-08-15 By Sotaliraq The head of the Baghdad Investment Authority, the consultant engineer (Haider Al-Ansari), received in his office this morning, Monday 15/8/2022, the delegation of the Iraqi Media Network and discussed with them ways to consolidate and strengthen relations between the two parties. The delegation also learned about the investment mechanism in the capital, Baghdad, and how to obtain investment licenses.
The delegation discussed with the head of the authority the possibility of providing offers for the implementation of housing projects by solid investment companies to establish an integrated city for the network’s owners, containing all services and recreational, educational, health and commercial facilities on the plots of land that were granted to them.
For his part, Al-Ansari welcomed the delegation and expressed his full readiness to cooperate with them and provide them with full support to achieve this project and overcome obstacles to its completion, like the rest of the institutions that implemented housing units for their affiliates through investment, which is in line with the directions of the Iraqi government aimed at providing housing units for the employees of government institutions, which will be It has a major role in reducing the housing crisis and will be consistent with the comprehensive urban renaissance witnessed by the capital, Baghdad.
We kindly ask you to review and publish in your esteemed institutions
Greetings Department of Public Relations and Media Baghdad Investment Authority
Disclaimer: All published articles represent the opinion of its authors only LINK
An American Message About The Joint Economic Cooperation Between It And Iraq, Especially In The Energy Sector Within The Kurdistan Region
Posted On2022-08-16 By Sotaliraq Democratic Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez and Republican Vice-Chairman Jim Rich send a letter to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urging him on the importance of joint economic cooperation between the United States of America and Iraq, especially in the energy sector within the Kurdistan Region
It was stated in the text of the message
We are writing to express our concern that the ongoing constitutional dispute between federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government over natural resources is undermining the country’s economic development. We are also deeply concerned by reports that recent court rulings, including the Federal Supreme Court ruling on the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Oil and Gas Law No. 22, are being selectively applied against US energy companies operating in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Furthermore, we are concerned about recent and ongoing attacks by Iranian proxy militias against energy infrastructure and US interests in northern Iraq as Iran continues to interfere in Iraqi government formation and internal political affairs. LINK
