Tuesday Morning Iraq Economic News Highlights 3-7-23
The Draft Budget Law 2023 Will Not Be Included On The Cabinet Table
March 7, 2023 Baghdad / Obelisk: The government spokesman, Basem Al-Awadi, confirmed that the draft general budget law for the year 2023 was not included in the regular cabinet session.
Al-Awadi said, in a statement followed by Al-Ossala, that the draft general budget law for the year 2023 is not included in the agenda of the Council of Ministers in its regular session scheduled for Tuesday.
He added that the draft budget law for the current year will be ready and will be sent to the House of Representatives by the end of this month.
He pointed out that the current year’s budget will, for the first time, be devoted to the implementation of the government program, whether the services or the private sector, and all that the ministerial program pledged. https://almasalah.com/archives/45381
Details Of The 2023 Budget: Reducing The Exchange Rate Cost 14 Trillion, And The Deficit Is 60 Trillion Dinars
March 7, 2023 Baghdad / Obelisk: The Parliamentary Finance Committee spoke of its desire to reduce the amounts of the budget law to 170 trillion dinars, confirming good amounts for the investment part in order to implement the paragraphs of the ministerial platform of the current government.
Committee member Mueen Al-Kazemi said that the draft budget law was supposed to arrive some time ago, but the dollar exchange rate changed from 1,450 dinars to 1,300 dinars.
He added that this change made the government return the project to the Ministries of Finance and Planning in order to reconsider it at the new exchange rate.
He added that the discussion will take place on all items within the relevant committees and in coordination with the political blocs, and he spoke of a desire to establish a fund for the reconstruction of the poorest provinces, a fund affected by terrorism, and a fund for the reconstruction of Dhi Qar.
And he went on to say that the government project reduced the total budget amounts, after it was more than 200 trillion dinars, it has now become about 196 trillion dinars, and this ceiling is subject to discussion within the corridors of Parliament.
He explained that Iraq’s oil and non-oil revenues were previously 149 trillion, but after changing the exchange rate they became 135 trillion dinars.
And he stated that Iraq exports 3 million and 500 thousand barrels of oil per day at a price of 65 dollars, according to what is estimated in the budget, although the official price is higher than that.
And he talked about the possibility of the deficit reaching 60 trillion dinars, which is a large amount, explaining that the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives has a vision that the budget will be about 170 trillion, 90 trillion of which goes to the operational side.
He pointed out that salaries alone consume 62 trillion dinars, which are for four million employees, in addition to social care, rations, medicines and other governing materials.
He concluded his speech by saying that 80 trillion dinars will go to the investment component, which is a large sum added to it from the allocations of the emergency support for food security and development law amounting to 9 trillion dinars that were allocated for the development of the regions, because this amount has not been spent until now. https://almasalah.com/archives/45391
Experts Offer Solutions To Eliminate The Exchange Rate Gap In The Parallel Market
2023.03.07 – Baghdad – Nas The Federation of Chambers of Commerce revealed the Prime Minister’s directive to facilitate merchants’ access to the electronic transfer platform for selling dollars at the Central Bank as part of efforts to control the large gap between the exchange rate between the official and the market.
“Nass” channel on Telegram.. our latest updates
This trend represents, according to a number of specialists in economic affairs, a necessary step to eliminate the monopolies of the parallel market for foreign currency, in addition to being an important factor in limiting the rise in prices resulting from the necessity of “small merchants” to provide their needs in dollars by buying it from money exchanges, which sell it within limits. 157 thousand dinars for every 100 dollars, “until yesterday, Monday.”
In addition to the importance of government directives to facilitate the involvement of merchants in the platform for selling the currency, the economist, Dr. Fares Karim Buraihi, believes during an interview with the official newspaper, followed by “Nass” (March 7, 2023), that “the central bank’s moves represent practical measures that can contribute to an extent.”
What is the decline in the exchange rate of the dollar, but it needs more follow-up,” calling for the involvement of “small traders” who work on a daily basis in commercial exchange without allowing them to enter the platform for selling dollars in the central bank, and obtaining foreign currency at its official rate, indicating that This caused a clear rise in prices.
Expert Brehi explained that the process of adapting to the platform and stabilizing exchange rates requires more time and continuous government follow-up, and to work diligently to prevent smuggling operations that the dollar was exposed to during the past periods, stressing that these follow-ups will lead to the restoration of the exchange rate and the stability of the parallel market, and thus Eliminating inflation and its negative repercussions on society, praising at the same time the government’s efforts to control food prices in the local markets by entering as a competitor in selling some items at official prices, stressing the importance of the step that comes with the approach of the holy month.
Yesterday, Monday, the head of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Abd al-Razzaq al-Zuhairi, announced that “the prime minister directed that there should be meetings between businessmen, merchants, and relevant authorities, including the Central Bank, tax and customs, and facilitate the entry of merchants to the electronic transfer platform.”
Contrary to the previous opinion, a member of the Iraqi Economists Association, economic researcher Muqdam Iyad al-Shaibani, believes during an interview with the official newspaper that “monetary policy in Iraq is still subordinate to fiscal policy and is not independent of governmental and political decisions,” describing the decision to raise the exchange rate that was taken in the year 2020 from 118 dinars per dollar to 146 dinars, as “a shock method, and represents punishment for the people, in addition to being an unscientific and ill-considered measure that led to the decline of the Iraqi economy and caused a real crisis for the citizen.”
Al-Shaibani explained that “the citizen suffers from accumulated crises as a result of previous economic and financial policies, and that changing the exchange rate within two years without a real study of the market situation, the banking system, and the situation of the private sector led to a gap between the official price and the parallel market price, especially after the Central Bank of Iraq did work.” system of the electronic platform for financing foreign trade, without taking into account the weakness of the Iraqi banking system.
Al-Shaibani believes that “the failure of merchants, especially small traders, to deal with the banking system of the Central Bank led to the purchase of dollars from the parallel market to finance their foreign trade,” noting that “most of the internal trade operations are still funded in dollars, and that Iraq depends entirely on imports from abroad because the industry And agriculture constitutes only 4% of the gross domestic product, which created a large gap between the official and the parallel price, which negatively affected the situation of the Iraqi economy and the citizen directly.
The researcher Al-Shaibani stressed the need for the Central Bank to reform the banking system and work to persuade all segments of the people, especially merchants, investors and other actors in the Iraqi economy, to enter the banking system and work to solve the problem of small traders and find realistic solutions to finance their trade, calling at the same time, to transfer all Domestic trade operations are in Iraqi dinars, and that the dollar be used to finance foreign trade.
https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=103351
The Government Spokesman Resolves The Controversy Of Including The Budget On The Agenda Of Today’s Cabinet Meeting
2023.03.07 – Baghdad – Nas On Tuesday, the government spokesman, Basem Al-Awadi, confirmed that the draft general budget law for the year 2023 was not included in the regular cabinet session.
“Nass” channel on Telegram.. our latest updates
Al-Awadi said in a statement to the official agency, followed by “NAS”, (March 7, 2023), that “the draft general budget law for the year 2023 is not included in the agenda of the Council of Ministers in its regular session scheduled for today, Tuesday.”
He added, “The draft budget law for the current year will be ready and will be sent to the House of Representatives by the end of this month.”
He pointed out that “the budget for the current year will be for the first time devoted to the implementation of the government program, whether the service or the private sector and all that the ministerial program pledged.” https://www.nasnews.com/view.php?cat=103365
Al-Sudani: The Iraqi Dinar Is Strong And We Will Not Allow Its Collapse
Mohamed Shiaa Al-Sudani. “Internet” Money and business Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani affirmed that the Iraqi dinar is strong and we will not allow its collapse.
Al-Sudani said in a televised interview with Al-Hadath channel, followed by “Al-Iqtisad News”, that the Iraqi dinar is strong and we will not allow its collapse, and this confidence came from the good economic situation, as the revenues are the highest in the history of Iraq, and our balance has reached more than 100 billion dollars.
He warned exchange companies and other parties against selling the dollar at a price of more than 1,320 dinars, explaining that the current dollar problem is concentrated in some merchants, companies and small traders who were accustomed to transfers without import requirements, including the establishment of a company, the import license and the payment of customs taxes.
He added that private banks have a role in development and contribute to the process of financing and lending to investors and businessmen to establish projects, and that some private banks work properly and we help them as a government because there is no development without banks and without a banking system. https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=32805
Representatives Are Calling For The Speedy Sending Of The Budget
Iraq 2023/03/07 Muhannad Abdel Wahhab Members of the House of Representatives called on the government to quickly send the Federal General Budget Law 2023, saying that delay in this matter will negatively affect the implementation of its provisions and that it is not in the interest of citizens, expecting that the supposed ceiling for the budget will reach 195 trillion dinars at an assumed price of $65 per barrel of oil.
A member of the Finance Committee for the “Ishraqa Canon” bloc, Mustafa Al-Karawi, said, in an interview with “Al-Sabah”: “The budget is still in the corridors of the government and has not yet reached the House of Representatives, and the government continues to delay it, and therefore this will negatively affect its implementation after its approval, on Considering that the remainder of the year 2023 may not be sufficient to implement its provisions, because many matters need to be quickly implemented during the real fiscal year.
A member of the Finance Committee criticized what he described as “the government’s continued delay in sending the budget,” calling on it to send it as soon as possible “so that we can approve it and benefit the citizen,” noting that “until now, there is no documented information in the House of Representatives about the date of the arrival of the budget, There are indications that the budget ceiling will reach 195 trillion dinars, and the price of a barrel of oil could be 65 dollars and the exchange rate of the dollar 1320 dinars, according to the information available from the government.
As for the inconsistency in the exchange rate of the dollar between its sale in government banks and the local market, he stressed that “the real problem is not in the problem of the exchange rate for internal cash transactions, but rather in external remittances, because they represent the largest percentage of transactions.”
Al-Karawi explained that “99% of the Iraqi citizen’s consumption comes through imports, and thus affects the exchange rate, given that foreign transfers will be outside the controls, because many companies and merchants were not registered with taxes or government institutions, and there are no official documents sent to the exporting authorities, so The government must find a solution to this issue in the correct ways in managing the file of sent documents, invoices and foreign transfers, so that on the basis of which control over the exchange rate inside Iraq is carried out.
For his part, independent MP Amir Al-Mamouri confirmed, “The delay in the process of sending the budget is very clear, and the government may have faced some challenges in the issue of the exchange rate of the dollar, but now it is stable on the part of the government, so the government had to speed up the process of sending the budget to the House of Representatives.” Especially since the year 2022 did not witness the existence of a federal budget, and until now, the budget for 2023 has not been sent.
Al-Mamouri added, in an interview with “Al-Sabah”, that “there was confirmation from the House of Representatives to urge the government to expedite sending the budget, but unfortunately, so far, nothing of this kind has been achieved, and we are waiting for it to be sent during the coming days of the current month of March.”
He pointed out that “with the arrival of the budget, we will have opinions regarding the joints it contains that need to study the paragraphs, and answer its items to the question of whether, after this delay, it will achieve our ambition to provide what is required in the service and health sectors and other matters.”
Member of the Legal Committee, Abd al-Karim Abtan, stated that “the House of Representatives is waiting for the budget to be sent by the government, and it is the one that agrees and sets standards in its sections, and after the Council of Ministers approves it and sends it to Parliament, we read it, amend it, and send it to vote after reading.”
Abtan confirmed, in an interview with “Al-Sabah”, that “delaying the budget is not in the interest of the country, because the citizen, the private sector, agriculture, industry and all sectors are waiting for it to be sent and approved.”
He explained, “The House of Representatives is ready for a budget and setting its vision to serve the public interest, including revitalizing the agricultural and industrial sectors, lagging projects, and youth appointments, and we will work to set some rights for retirees, all of which are calculated in the next budget.” Edited by: Muhammad Al-Ansari https://alsabaah.iq/72816-.html
Parliamentary Finance Seeks To Reduce 26 Trillion Dinars From The Budget Amounts
Economy 10:49 – 2023-03-07 The Parliamentary Finance Committee spoke of its desire to reduce the amounts of the budget law to 170 trillion dinars, confirming good amounts for the investment part in order to implement the paragraphs of the ministerial platform of the government of Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, expecting the project to reach Parliament next week, after its approval by the Council of Ministers, and a member of the committee said
Maeen Al-Kazemi, that “the draft budget law was supposed to arrive some time ago, but the dollar exchange rate changed from 1450 dinars to 1300 dinars.”
Al-Kazemi continued, “This change made the government return the project to the Ministries of Finance and Planning in order to reconsider it at the new exchange rate.”
He pointed out, “Expectations are that the cabinet meeting for today, Tuesday, will witness a discussion of the law in order to ratify it and send it to Parliament.”
And Al-Kadhimi indicated that “Parliament will receive the law as soon as the Council of Ministers votes on it, and no later than early next week.”
He explained, “The Finance Committee will start studying the project and present it for the first reading, which will not witness any amendments.”
Al-Kazemi pointed out, “Discussions will begin after that, in order to make adjustments to ensure that there is no high ceiling on amounts in a way that harms the economic situation because we do not want the deficit gap to widen.”
And he stated, “The discussion will take place on all items within the concerned committees and in coordination with the political blocs,” and he spoke of “a desire to establish a fund for the reconstruction of the poorest provinces, a fund affected by terrorism, and a fund for the reconstruction of Dhi Qar.”
And Al-Kazemi continues, “The government project to reduce the total budget amounts, after it was more than 200 trillion dinars, has now become about 196 trillion dinars, and this ceiling is subject to discussion within the corridors of Parliament.”
And he added, “Iraq’s oil and non-oil revenues were previously 149 trillion, but after changing the exchange rate they became 135 trillion dinars.”
Al-Kazemi stated, “Iraq exports 3,500,000 barrels of oil per day at a price of $65, according to what is estimated in the budget, although the official price is higher than that.”
And he talked about “the possibility of the deficit reaching 60 trillion dinars, which is a large amount,” explaining that “the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives has a vision that the budget is about 170 trillion, 90 trillion of which goes to the operational part.”
Al-Kazemi added, “Salaries alone consume 62 trillion dinars, which are for four million employees, in addition to social care, rations, medicines, and other governing materials.”
And he went on, “80 trillion will go to the investment part, which is a large amount added to it the remaining allocations from the Emergency Support for Food Security and Development Law amounting to 9 trillion dinars that were allocated for the development of regions, because this amount has not been spent until now.”
And Al-Kazemi concluded, that “the Council of Ministers has finished most of the provisions of the budget law according to the new formula, and it is preparing today to vote on it and then send it to Parliament so that we can approve it within a period not exceeding a month, with the aim of speeding up the launch of financial allocations and the implementation of the paragraphs of the ministerial platform for the government of Muhammad Shia’a.” Sudanese.” https://kirkuktv.net/AR/Details/13692
