Iraqi News Highlights Early Friday AM 10-28-22
Tlm724 Administrator Bondlady’s Corner
Iraq’s Wealth And The Forty Thieves: Structural Enablers Of Corruption With Impunity
by Ahmed Tabaqchali
The disclosure on 15 October 2022 of the embezzlement of 3.7 trillion Iraqi dinars (IQD), about US$2.5 billion, from the General Commission of Taxes (GCT) brought the stinging resignation letter of the outgoing finance minister into sharp focus –
in particular, the charge that ‘vast underground networks of senior officials, corrupt businessmen and politicians operate in the shadows to dominate entire sectors of the economy, and siphon off literally billions of dollars from the public purse.’
Righteous indignation notwithstanding, severe punishments and new measures to root out corruption are doomed to fail, as were all prior anti-corruption measures,
because the root causes are inherent in the post-2003 political order’s politically sanctioned corruption;
and the inevitable politicisation of the senior civil service, which have hollowed out the state and its institutional capacity to function.
In particular, the Ministry of Finance (MoF), is structurally weak and ill-equipped to deal with the complexities of managing the state’s budget.
Specifically, the absence of coherent revenue and expenditure management policies and systems, i.e., a Public Financial Management (PFM) system,
combined with the prevalence of decades old paper-based systems,
makes it impossible for the government to monitor its finances,
in particular its cash management operations.
Now You See Me, Now You Don’t
The audacity of the embezzlement is matched only by the ease and impunity with which it was carried out.
The Sad State of the Ministry of Finance
Lacking a sound PFM, the MoF operates without an Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS)
which electronically links
budget planning,
budget execution,
accounting and
reporting of all government entities;
exacerbated by the absence of a Treasury Single Account (TSA),
which consolidates all the government’s accounts in a single account controlled by the MoF.
As such the MoF has a tenuous control over government entities’ expenditures, and only a partial knowledge of its cash balances.
The White Paper and Resistance from Within
Two key aspects of the ‘White Paper for Economic Reform’, were to
address the MoF’s structural weaknesses through the introduction of a PFM system,
by reviving the long-stalled implementation of an IFMIS and a TSA;
and to restructure state-owned banks Rafidain and Rasheed.
While this has moved both projects from their multi-year aspirational phases to the realms of the possible, the system valiantly resisted – more passively than aggressively in the face of a strong push from the leadership of the MoF from May 2020 until October 2022.
A Feature and Not a Bug
Consequently, each government entity continues to have nearly full autonomy over its expenditures and bank accounts, making central accountability and effective governance a pipe dream.
As such – whether by design or a happy coincidence – this state of affairs maintains the substantiveness of ministerial appointments within the Muhasasa Ta’ifia structure, and within its Wikala sub-structure for the appointments of senior civil servants.
READ FULL ARTICLE at
Within 9 Months, Iraqis Bought 5,250 Homes In Turkey
economy breaking Iraqis in Turkey houses in Turkey Real estate in Turkey
2022-10-26 21:57 Shafaq News/ Iraqis bought about 5,250 homes in Turkey during 9 months of the current year 2022, according to the latest Turkish census published today, Thursday.
In the latest statistics seen by Shafak News Agency, the Turkish Statistics Authority said that “Iraq came in third place as the largest buyer of homes in Turkey, as Iraqi citizens bought 5,255 homes during 9 months of the current year 2022, down by 6 percent from the same period last year, which Iraqis purchased 5,585 Turkish homes. And she added,
“Citizens of Russia came first with 9,311 houses, followed by Iranians second with 6,540 homes, Germans came fourth with 2,058 houses, and then Kazakh citizens came 5th with 2,045 houses.”
Iraqis have been at the top of the list of home purchases in Turkey since 2015, but the ranking fell to second place after Iran at the beginning of the current year 2021, to fall back to third place with the month of March 2022 after Russia became the most purchaser of Turkish homes.
https://shafaq.com/ar/اقتصـاد/خلال-9-اشهر-العراقيون-اشتروا-5250-منزلا-في-تركيا
Al-Sudani: The Corruption Pandemic Is More Deadly Than Corona And Was The Cause Of Many Problems
On October 27, 2022 The Independent/- The parliament session began Thursday evening, devoted to voting on the new government headed by Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani.
In a speech before the Council, Al-Sudani said it is an honor to stand today in the house of the legislative authority, as stipulated in Article 76/4 of the Constitution, in order to present the ministerial curriculum and present the government cabinet, hoping to gain the confidence of the people’s representatives and start a new page in the fields of implementation. He added,
“Our ministerial team will address the responsibility at this stage in which the world is witnessing very large political and economic transformations and conflicts, which adds new challenges to our country, which is already suffering from accumulated crises that have had the most severe economic, social, humanitarian and environmental impact.”
And he promised the people “a sincere promise to make the utmost effort and our utmost, in order to succeed in lifting these monuments, in a spirit befitting the courage of Iraqis.” Al-Sudani pointed out that
“the success of our ministerial curriculum stems from our belief that the Iraqis, with their different convictions, beliefs and tendencies, are all righteous sons of our beloved Iraq, and by meeting around us they will form a basis for the success of our government, and openness to all political forces, whether or not they participated in the government.”
And he announced seeking to ensure close cooperation between the members of the House of Representatives and the ministerial team, “in a manner that guarantees a legislative and oversight role that our people deserve, who have entrusted us and you with the trust of representing them.”
“We must cooperate to develop the work and effectiveness of state oversight bodies, and strengthen the capabilities of the free national press to play its role,” he stressed.
Al-Sudani expressed his government’s keenness to
“increase the capacity and effectiveness of local governments, as is the case in federal systems, and to
find sustainable solutions to files with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, through a true partnership based on rights and duties, and to
guarantee and preserve the independence of the judiciary as stipulated in that constitution.”.
He stressed, “The corruption pandemic that affected all aspects of life is more deadly than the Corona pandemic, and was the cause of many economic problems, weakening the state’s prestige, increasing poverty, unemployment and poor services, and
accordingly our program will include firm policies and measures to combat this pandemic.” He expressed his belief that
“building a strong Iraqi economy is able to
achieve qualitative change in services,
create many job opportunities and
open the doors for investment wide, and
contribute to strengthening the foundations of cooperation with countries of the world,
based on the principle of common interests and mutual respect for sovereignty.” He stated that
“our ministerial team will apply a set of principles to work on building a modern economy that serves Iraqis in the present and the future, namely:
stopping the deterioration that afflicts various sectors,
financing and implementing new and lagging projects, which have a direct impact on the lives of citizens and the services provided to them, in addition to
combating Poverty, unemployment and
empowering low-income people.
He also stressed the work on the gradual transformation of the rentier economy by modernizing the work of the economy through the government’s sponsorship of an important economic engine based on investing the creativity of young energies;
To activate the building of small and medium-sized companies in
agriculture,
industry,
information technology,
services and the
environment, to
provide the state with thousands of job opportunities and to
attract local and international investment. In his speech,
Al-Sudani indicated that God has bestowed upon Iraq many resources, the most important of which are creative human energies, and our government’s endeavor is to start investing and developing these energies, especially since a large percentage of Iraq’s population are young people who deserve a role in building the country and benefiting from its bounties. He also indicated that
his ministerial curriculum gave priority to returning the displaced to their areas of residence after completing the requirements for return, and was also concerned with human rights and women’s empowerment. He added,
“Our government will give the necessary care and support to our armed forces and internal security forces with all their names and formations, for being the guarantor of civil peace and security of the country and the implementation of the rule of law.” He expressed his belief that
Iraq’s strategic location, regional weight and influence in the world economy give it the right to play a major role that represents its true size and to establish the best relations on the basis of mutual and complementary interests with neighboring countries and Arab and friendly countries.
https://mustaqila.com/السوداني-جائحة-الفساد-أكثر-فتكاً-من-كو/
British Report: Iraq Bottoms In The Global Business Environment Rating
322 Economy 10/27/2022 13:38 Baghdad today _ follow up Iraq is among the five countries that rank at the bottom of the global business environment ranking issued by the British Economist Intelligence Unit, which indicates the country’s economic outlook for five years.
According to a report issued by the company and followed by (Baghdad Today), it explained that
“the rating measures the attractiveness of the business environment in 82 countries on a quarterly basis using a standard analytical framework with 91 indicators,” noting that
“its ratings for the fourth quarter of 2022 show that Western Europe and North America are still better Places to do business in the world, Asia ranked third, slightly ahead of Eastern Europe, while the Middle East and Africa made a slight lead over Latin America. She explained that
“Iraq came during the period from the last quarter of 2019 to the same period of this year among the five countries that occupy the bottom classification in the global business environment, as
it came fourth after Syria first, Yemen second and Libya third, while Lebanon came fifth after Iraq.” She added that
“the low centers of the Middle East and Africa are still under the weight of poor governance and rampant insecurity in many parts of the region, including the contagion of conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya, as well as political unrest in a number of countries such as Iraq and Lebanon.”
And she considered that “Singapore will remain the best place for business in the world over the next five years, according to the unit’s business environment rankings for the fourth quarter of 2022, while
Canada and the United States ranked second and third, respectively, while Western Europe retained its position within the top 20.”
She pointed out that “the greatest improvement during the past three years and prior to the turmoil caused by the Corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine was in the business environment in Greece, Qatar, the United States and the UAE, while the worst cases were in Latin America in addition to Russia and Ukraine.” https://baghdadtoday.news/news/204468/تقرير-بريطاني-العراق-يتذ
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