Friday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 3-17-23
Central Bank Governor Warns Of “A Very Dangerous Phenomenon That Threatens Monetary Stability”
Economy| 11:04 – 03/16/2023 Baghdad – Mawazine News, Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, considered, on Thursday, relying on the central bank to cover the general budget deficit, as “a very dangerous phenomenon that threatens monetary stability” in Iraq. Al-Alaq said in a speech during the Sulaymaniyah Forum, “Monetary policy includes two main goals: maintaining the general level of prices, that is, the strength of the currency locally, and the exchange rate, which represents the strength of the currency externally.”
He added, “The phenomenon of relying on the central bank to cover the deficit of the state’s general budget is a very dangerous phenomenon, and the dependence of some governments on the central bank for financing threatens monetary stability.” Ended 29/N33
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=222043
Saleh’s Appearance: The 2023 Budget Is Flexible And Unrestricted, Allowing Governorates To Spend Investment
March 17, 2023 Baghdad / Obelisk: The Advisor to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, announced, on Friday, the fate of the sums allocated to the governorates that were not disbursed.
Saleh said, “The rotation of the amounts allocated to the governorates for the purposes of investment spending, which could not be disbursed during the fiscal year, was included in the draft federal budget law for the year 2023, which is a flexible and unrestricted mechanism that allows the governorates to conduct financial actions within their annual allocations related to investment spending on projects.”
He added, “The Financial Management Law in force No. 6 of 2019, amended in 2020, has taken the issue of allocated unspent financial allocations to the governorates by preserving their rights in allocation in order to sustain spending on investment projects without delay or delay.”
And the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani, said, last Monday, in a press conference, “In this budget, we gave the governorates the right to rotate the allocated amounts,” stressing, “The priorities of the government program will be present in the 2023 budget, and the budget for three years supports financial stability.” https://almasalah.com/archives/47038
The Government Delivers The Three-Year Budget To Parliament
Time: 03/17/2023 11:42:18 Read: 1,209 times {Economic: Al Furat News} The government spokesman, Basem Al-Awadi, announced the handing over of the financial budgets for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025 to the House of Representatives.
Al-Awadi said in a statement, which {Euphrates News} received a copy of, that “and in implementation of the provisions of the constitution and the federal financial management law, yesterday evening, Thursday, the draft federal budget law of the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal years 2023, 2024, 2025 was officially handed over to the House of Representatives.” .
And he stressed, “The draft budget law, with its new articles and paragraphs that were approved for the first time, is capable of facilitating the implementation of executive and development projects, plans and programs, and the provision of infrastructure and services for citizens.” LINK
Parliamentary Oil: The Drop In Oil Is Emergency And There Is No Risk In The Budget Price
Time: 03/16/2023 13:52:38 Read: 2,080 times {Economic: Al Furat News} The Parliamentary Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee considered the drop in oil prices in global markets to $74 a barrel as an “emergency decline.”
Committee member Adnan Al-Jabri told {Euphrates News} agency: “The adoption of a price of 70 dollars per barrel of oil cannot be called a risk, but it is a price that has a kind of justice, given that previous years witnessed the adoption of 45 dollars per barrel, while oil prices exceeded 110 dollars.”
He added, “There are no major concerns about the decline in oil prices, as it is emergency and non-continuous.”
Al-Jabri expected, “There will be an opinion of the relevant parliamentary committees towards reducing the price of oil that is fixed in the budget, and it will be in the presence of the government representative.”
And crude oil prices fell yesterday, Wednesday, to their lowest levels since December 2021, after falling for three consecutive days.
Brent has lost nearly 10% since Friday’s close, while US crude has fallen about 11%, according to Reuters.
But today, it returned to the rise in early Asian trading today, Thursday, to compensate for some of its losses, after it recorded its lowest level in more than a year in the previous session, as the markets calmed down somewhat after the decision of the Swiss regulators to provide a financial rescue to the Credit Suisse bank. Raghad Daham LINK
Oil Expert: The West Has Started A War On Oil Prices, And The Default Price In The Iraqi Budget Is Disappointing
Oil expert, Hamza Al-Jawahiry, confirmed on Thursday that the West has started a war on oil prices, indicating that the hypothetical price of oil that was put in the budget is disappointing.
Al-Jawahiri said in a press interview seen by “Takadam” that “the collapse of oil prices so quickly, which the West spoke of, came after the collapse of some banks in America and another in Europe. It is, in fact, a war against oil and prices in the world,” noting that “the days have proven that The economies of the West cannot stand without cheap oil prices at less than $60.”
And he continued, “The West’s endeavor to reduce oil prices is not a condition, but rather a goal for these countries, and this matter is the beginning of this strong attack on oil prices and OPEC, despite the reassurances of OPEC and despite the recovery of the Chinese economy, but the issue is related to the West’s economy in general, which cannot resist prices higher than 60.” a dollar.”
Al-Jawahiry pointed out that “the budget was disappointing when it set the default price of oil at $70, while today we sell our oil for less than that, let alone if Europe and America succeed in bringing prices to $60 and less,” pointing out that “this matter will greatly affect On Iraq, especially because there is about 34 percent of the budget deficit after the operating budget has greatly inflated, while the investment budget has diminished, which has become less than a quarter.
Al-Jawahiri demanded that “the price of oil be in the budget not to exceed 50 dollars, and if it was 45 dollars, it would be much better and more secure, and the operational budget should be split in half or more because the latter is a fatal budget for Iraq, the economy and the future of Iraq, especially since it is for three years.”
He stressed, “The House of Representatives must rectify these issues before approving the budget and returning it to the government, and demands that it be streamlined and set a price of $50 for oil.”
He pointed out that “the development funds that the budget came with are nothing but a joke because the development funds are large financial institutions that have their own law and are not just a small paragraph placed in the budget for three years,” stressing that “these funds remain for future generations and special laws must be established for them.”
It works with it and behaves as it does in the West, which spends on development projects, because in this existing situation, which came in the budget in this way, it will be subject to corruption and theft from day one.”
It is noteworthy that oil prices fell significantly, to record Brent 74 dollars a barrel, and US crude less than 70 dollars, while Iraq put in Iraq’s general budget the default price of a barrel for the budget of the current year 2023, the price of 70 dollars a barrel.
Iraq’s economy is considered rentier, and the Iraqi state’s continued dependence on oil as the sole source of the general budget puts Iraq in danger from global crises that occur from time to time due to the impact of oil on it, which makes Iraq tend every time to cover the deficit by borrowing from abroad or internally, and thus he refers to The inability to effectively manage state funds, and the inability to find alternative financing solutions.
On Monday (March 13), the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved the draft budget law for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025.
The total budget amounted to 197 trillion and 828 billion dinars, with operating expenses of 150 trillion and 293 billion dinars, and investment expenditures of 47 trillion and 555 billion dinars.
The fiscal deficit in the 2023 budget amounted to 63 trillion and 275 billion dinars.
The financial revenue for the budget amounted to 134 trillion and 553 billion dinars, of which oil revenues amounted to 117 trillion and 252 billion dinars, and non-oil revenues amounted to 17 trillion dinars.
The price of oil in the budget was estimated at $70, according to the export of 3 million barrels and 500 thousand per day, of which 400 barrels are from the Kurdistan region.
خبير نفطي: الغرب بدأ حربا على أسعار النفط والسعر الافتراضي في الموازنة العراقية مخيب للآمال
Advisor To The Prime Minister: The 2023 Budget Included A Flexible Mechanism Related To Governorate Allocations
political| 11:03 – 03/17/2023 Baghdad – Mawazine News, the Advisor to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, announced, on Friday, the fate of the sums allocated to the governorates that were not disbursed.
Saleh said, “The recycling of the amounts allocated to the governorates for the purposes of investment spending, which could not be disbursed during the fiscal year, has been included in the draft federal budget law for the year 2023, which is a flexible and unrestricted mechanism that allows the governorates to conduct financial actions within their annual allocations related to investment spending on projects.”
He added, “The Financial Management Law in force No. 6 of 2019 and amended in 2020 took the issue of unspent allocated financial allocations to the governorates by preserving their rights in allocation in order to sustain spending on investment projects without delay or delay.” Ended 29 / H
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=222140
The Government Delivers The “Tripartite Budget” To The House Of Representatives
political| 11:41 – 03/17/2023 Baghdad – Mawazine News On Friday, the Iraqi government spokesman, Basem Al-Awadi, announced that the draft budget law had been handed over to Parliament.
Al-Awadi said in a statement, which Mawazine News received a copy of, that “in implementation of the provisions of the constitution and the federal financial management law, yesterday evening, Thursday, the draft federal budget law of the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal years 2023, 2024, 2025 was officially handed over to the House of Representatives.” .
He added, “The draft budget law, with its new articles and paragraphs that were approved for the first time, is capable of facilitating the implementation of executive and development projects, plans and programs, and providing infrastructure and services for citizens.” Ended 29 / H
https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=222143
The US Senate Approves An Amendment To The Authorization For The Use Of Force Against Iraq Act
March 16, 2023 Baghdad / Obelisk: The US Senate (the upper chamber of Congress) approved an amendment to the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Act against Iraq.
And media outlets in Washington reported that the US Senate agreed to start the process of amending the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq Act of 1991 and 2002.
The Senate made the decision with 67 senators voting in favor and 27 against. Nineteen Republican senators were among the supporters of the resolution. https://almasalah.com/archives/46997
Al-Rafidain Launches A New Batch Of Advances For Retirees: Up To 25 Million Dinars
Economy News – Baghdad Al-Rafidain Bank announced, on Thursday, the launch of the second batch of advances allocated to civil and military retirees through electronic payment tools.
The bank’s media office said in a statement, “The pensioners’ advances meal, which starts from 5 million to 25 million dinars, has been granted.”
The statement indicated that “the disbursement of that advance was done by informing the retiree by sending him a text message notifying him of granting him the advance, after he completed all the procedures to grant it to him and disbursed it through the Master Card, to which the financial balance was filled,” calling on “the retirees to review the bank’s branches or outlets.” exchange to receive the advance.
And the statement continued, “The bank continues to work on granting new meals from advances, successively, and according to schedules and timetables, for applicants through the electronic application of Al-Rafidain Bank.” https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=32973
