Monday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 2-13-23
The President Of The Republic Stresses The Importance Of Expediting The Approval Of The Budget To Initiate Development Plans
Time: 02/13/2023 13:53:59 Read: 273 times {Politics: Al Furat News} The President of the Republic, Abdul Latif Jamal Sheid, stressed today, Monday, the importance of expediting the approval of the general budget in order to initiate development plans, rehabilitate infrastructure, and continue economic reform.
And the media of the Presidency of the Republic stated in a statement received by {Euphrates News}, that “the latter received, in the Baghdad Palace, the delegation of the National Alliance of Hopes, while stressing the need to consolidate security and stability, and invest it towards improving the country’s reality in various sectors, especially those related to providing services to citizens and improving living conditions.” Referring to “the basic role of the House of Representatives in legislation, enacting laws and oversight to improve performance.”
President Rashid stressed “the importance of speeding up the approval of the general budget in order to initiate development plans, rehabilitate infrastructure, continue economic reform, and focus on priority projects, especially health, housing and basic services, and support investment and the private sector through the necessary legislation and required facilities.”
For its part, the delegation of the National Alliance of Hopes appreciated the directives of the President of the Republic, pointing to “the need to expedite the enactment of important laws, especially those related to the country’s economy and the lives and requirements of citizens.” LINK
The Coordination Framework Reveals The Results Of Washington’s Dollar Negotiations And Awaits US Measures
2023-02-13 04:17 Shafaq News/ Today, Monday, the coordinating framework, which brings together the Shiite political forces, revealed the results of the Iraqi negotiations in Washington regarding the dollar crisis.
Iraq, the second largest producer in OPEC, was under pressure from the United States to limit the flow of money to neighboring Iran, as the Federal Reserve Board in New York last November imposed stricter restrictions on dollar transactions by Iraqi commercial banks.
These measures contributed to a dollar shortage, led to a decline in the dinar and fueled inflation, prompting Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani to replace the central bank governor, Mustafa Ghaleb Makhaif.
After that, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, Fouad Hussein, along with the Acting Central Bank Governor, Ali Al-Alaq, visited Washington to discuss issues, including the newly applied standards for transfers in US dollars.
“The Iraqi negotiations in Washington that are currently taking place are very positive after communicating with some members of the negotiating delegation, pointing out that the US Federal Reserve and the US Treasury, as well as the US State Department, support the stability of Iraq and its market,” the leader in the framework, Hassan Fadam, told Shafaq News agency.
And between Fadaam, “We are currently awaiting practical measures on the ground to support this stability in a real and realistic way by the United States of America, just as the measures that the US federal government previously requested to implement, which are from the period of Mustafa Al-Kazemi’s government, are in the interest of Iraq, before they are in the interest of Washington.” Also, Iraq benefits from linking the central bank and remittances to the global system, and this matter reveals where the dollar goes in any transfer, and the exchange of the dollar is actually for the parties that import real materials to Iraq and prevent the great waste that occurs in the currency auction.
He added, “The implementation of these measures takes time, especially since the Al-Kazemi government fell short in completing these measures, and the current government is working to implement these measures quickly and is responding to the demands of the US Federal Reserve and the US Treasury and is working to organize the Central Bank of Iraq well and monitor the funds that come out of it.” Iraq, where are you going?”
The Iraqi markets have recently witnessed a deterioration in the price of the dollar against the dinar, exceeding the threshold of one thousand and 700 dinars, after America activated a package of decisions related to financial transactions, to tighten its grip on currency smuggling, which prompted the Iraqi government to set up successive measures and discussions with Washington to contain the crisis.
The government decisions concluded with decreasing the value of the US dollar against the dinar, and adopting a price (one thousand and 300 dinars against the dollar) in the draft federal budget law 2023, but this step may lead to new inflation that hits the economy that relies on selling oil to finance its budgets.
Parliamentary Finance: Reducing The Price Of The Dollar Made The 2022 Revenues About 135 Trillion Dinars
Posted On2023-02-13 By Sotaliraq Baghdad / Firas Adnan The Parliamentary Finance Committee stated that reducing the dollar exchange rate will make last year’s revenues about 135 trillion dinars, pointing out that the budget deficit in light of these changes will be determined by about 35 trillion dinars, which will be covered by several outlets, including the remainder of the Emergency Support for Food Security and Development Act that was voted Parliament last year.
Committee member Mueen Al-Kazemi said, “The final draft of the budget law for the current year was decided a month ago, but the amendments that took place in order to make them compatible with the ministerial curriculum and then reduce the exchange rate of the dollar to 1,300 dinars necessitated the Ministries of Finance and Planning to recalculate the project on the basis of these variables.” ».
And Al-Kazemi added, “What the Ministry of Finance has reached regarding these amendments will be officially approved by the Council of Ministers very soon.”
He pointed out, “Parliament, represented by the Finance Committee, is ready to receive and study the draft budget in a serious manner, with the hope that it will be approved as soon as possible.”
And Al-Kazemi stated, “The Finance Committee hopes that this budget will be equal in terms of revenues and expenditures,” explaining that “last year’s revenues were about 149 trillion dinars, and with the devaluation of the dollar, it reached 135 trillion.”
And he called for “setting up a limited and reasonable deficit that could be covered by available means,” expecting that “the total budget amounts for this year will be between 165 to 170 trillion.”
Al-Kadhimi noted, “The deficit of 30 to 35 trillion dinars will be filled from various gates, whether through the surplus reserve balance or the money recovery program that the government is working on during the current year, in addition to the remaining funds from the Emergency Support Law, Food Security for Development No. (2) For the year 2022, amounting to 9 trillion dinars for the development of regions, these sums have not been disbursed until the present time.
And he hopes, that «all the belongings of the budget will end with the approval of the Council of Ministers and then the approval of Parliament during these two months, so that we can start implementing it in early April».
Al-Kazemi pointed out, “The government will hold its regular session tomorrow, Tuesday, and we hope to present the project during it and then approve it.”
And he stated, “The Finance Committee, after the budget reaches it, will study it and follow up on its amounts with the relevant ministries to find out what each of them needs, and it had a meeting with the Ministry of Electricity recently, in which it was briefed on the needs of the electricity sector and will work to include them in the budget.”
Al-Kadhimi spoke about “many demands received from political blocs and representatives of the components of Iraqi society that they need to be included in the budget law, but the Parliamentary Finance Committee will look at the higher interest of Iraq and the need to expedite the approval of the law to start projects in the provinces and ministries for implementation.”
And he warned, “There are good preparations among the public spending units in state institutions towards implementing the ministerial curriculum through the financial allocations included in the budget.”
Al-Kazemi stated, “The disputes with the Kurdistan region should be resolved through the required transparency by looking at oil exports and the money obtained from them, which is what the Ministry of Oil and the federal government requires, given that the export of Iraqi oil should take place under the supervision of the federal authorities.”
And he believes, “The failure to resolve this dispute means that we will continue to apply the previous mechanisms, not on the basis of percentage, but with certain payments that will be placed within the budget.”
Al-Kazemi concluded, “The differences with the Kurdistan region will soon end through continuous dialogues, and the previous agreements we reached in the State Administration coalition that resulted in the formation of the government of Muhammad Shia’a al-Sudani.”
For his part, Representative Raed Al-Maliki stated, “Financial Management Law No. 6 of 2019 sets deadlines for preparing the budget law and sending it to Parliament.”
Al-Maliki continued, “The law stipulates that the Council of Ministers begins to discuss the law in mid-October, but the delay in forming the government prevented commitment to this date.”
He pointed out, “The budget is supposed to reach parliament no later than December 31, that is, before the end of the year, but that also did not happen because of political differences.”
And al-Maliki said, “The government has been formed for about four months, but it did not succeed in sending the law that was placed at the forefront of its platform voted on by Parliament.”
And he finds that “the delay may have justifications related to fluctuations in the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar and the recent decision by the government to amend this price, in addition to fixing the price of a barrel of oil, as well as disputes with the Kurdistan region.”
And al-Maliki concluded, that “all these issues should not be a gateway to the non-legislation of the law during the current year as well, or to disable it more than we are at the present time, and therefore the government must expedite the completion of the project by sending it to Parliament for approval.” LINK
Aware / Finance: The Problem Of The High Price Of The Dollar Was Remedied By Governmental And Popular Will
February 13, 2023 2 Views Conscious / Baghdad / Follow-up Finance Minister Taif Sami announced, on Monday, that the ministry is in the process of finalizing work on the federal budget for the current year, while indicating that the problem of the high price of the dollar was remedied by the government and popular will.
Sami said in her speech at the Seventh Arab Finance Forum, which opened its business in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, and was followed by (Iraqi Media News Agency / INA), “We sought to pass the food security, development and financial hedging law in the amount of (25) trillion dinars in order to alleviate poverty, achieve financial stability and continue providing services to citizens,”
noting that “the Iraqi government has faced the Corona epidemic by taking several immediate measures to limit its spread through national, mobilizing, health and social policies that focused on marginalized social groups and facilitated access to health services and social care, which added these immediate and precautionary measures heavy financial burdens.” on public money.”
She added, “The Iraqi economy suffers from chronic structural problems, as the spring character is still mostly on it, and its recovery depends on oil prices in the global market, which puts the government and its economic and financial institutions on alert to overcome challenges.” and crises,” noting that “the adoption of the Iraqi government headed by a president The Council of Ministers, Mohamed Shia Al-Sudani, launched an ambitious program on the economic and financial level, and over a period of several months, its positive indicators appeared on the life of society and the institutional structure of the state to achieve financial sustainability.
And she stated: “We are on the verge of ending work with the federal budget for the year 2023 and moving towards comprehensive economic reforms in the Iraqi economy and setting a clear strategy to diversify its economy, raise its revenues and push development forward.” noting that “the Iraqi government appreciates the unremitting efforts and keenness to strengthen economic cooperation between Arab countries.” And coordination with partners to serve the trade and investments of those countries.
And she continued, “International relations are based on balance and expanding the base of interests to serve the goals of economic and financial development in the Arab countries,” pointing to “the challenges that the world faces from the effects of climate change, which have become more dramatic and their repercussions on people, which makes it imperative for Arab countries to increase financing, cooperation and income.” In investments that help mitigate the effects of climate change.
Sami expressed “the Iraqi government’s high confidence that the annual financial forum is an important factor in transferring successful Arab and international ideas and experiences and the lessons it offers from the sustainable development goals for the year 2030 that raise the level of the Arab reality, which is exposed to very serious challenges.
It is worth noting that the Seventh Arab Finance Forum was organized by the Arab Monetary Fund in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, with the participation of Arab ministries of finance, governors of central banks and Arab monetary institutions, as well as a number of heads and senior officials and experts from international and regional financial institutions.
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