The Central Bank announced the start of establishing the National Company for Electronic Payment Systems, while confirming the increase in the volume of deposits in the banking sector to 131 trillion dinars and the volume of foreign reserves to 148 trillion dinars.
Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Ammar Khalaf, said in his speech during the opening of the eighth annual exhibition and conference for finance and banking services in Iraq, that “Iraq experienced many challenges last year and the Central Bank faced them with high responsibility, as it was able, through various monetary policy tools and sound decisions, to achieve its set goals.” In its law, in addition to achieving the general level of prices through a decrease in the inflation rate, as since the beginning of 2023 the inflation rate has reached 7.5 percent and decreased at the end of the year 2023 to 4 percent.”
He pointed out, “activating monetary policy tools and raising the price from 4 percent to 7.5 percent, in addition to issuing various financial tools, including bank transfers and Islamic certificates of deposit instruments, which were considered an investment opportunity for Islamic and commercial banks operating in Iraq, in addition to using monetary policy tools.” Various, including raising the mandatory reserve ratio from 15 percent to 18 percent,” indicating that “these tools are intended to manage excess liquidity in the Iraqi economy.”
He pointed out that “last year witnessed clear growth in most monetary changes, including an increase in the volume of deposits in the banking sector from 129 trillion in 2022 to 131 trillion in 2023, as well as an increase in private sector deposits in the banking system from 54 trillion dinars to 55 and a half trillion dinars, as well as An increase in the volume of credit in the banking sector from 60 trillion to 69 trillion in 2023, in addition to an increase in credit to the private sector from 35 to 40 trillion dinars, in addition to an increase in the volume of foreign reserves from 140 to 148 trillion dinars.
He continued, “The efforts led by the Central Bank of Iraq in cooperation with the government, especially with regard to expanding the use of electronic payment tools, as there was a clear rise and growth in electronic payment tools in Iraq, as the number of POS points of sale increased from 10 thousand devices in the year 2022.” To more than 20 thousand devices in the year 2023, the number of ATM machines also increased from 2,223 devices in the year 2022 to about 3 thousand devices in the year 2023, and the number of electronic cards of various types reached about 16 million cards in the year 2022 and 18 million cards in the year 2023. Noting that “the past year witnessed great cooperation between the government and the Central Bank, especially with regard to enhancing confidence in the national currency through various decisions issued by the Council of Ministers and the Central Bank.”
He explained, “There is less use of foreign currency in daily transactions, in contrast to increased reliance on the national currency for local transactions, in addition to the existence of cooperation in the issue of restructuring government banks and developing private banking institutions to build sound and sound banking institutions.”
He stressed, “The Central Bank of Iraq is focusing on the importance of strengthening compliance with compliance standards for all financial institutions in accordance with local and international standards,” pointing out that “external transfer operations witnessed great discipline during the past year and a high response from all banks to facilitate trade financing operations and various external transfers.” Especially after the issuance of external transfer controls at the beginning of last year.”
He added, “The Central Bank of Iraq was able to strengthen its banking relations with a large number of Arab and foreign financial and banking institutions to open wider areas and ensure a high flow of external transfers, especially the use of different channels for external transfers in different currencies other than the dollar or next to the US dollar.”
He pointed out, “The Central Bank sought to strengthen the banks by increasing the capital of all banks from 250 to 400 billion dinars,” noting that “One of the most important projects launched by the Central Bank last year, and work on which is still underway in the current year, is the establishment of Riyada Bank, which He will be specialized in providing financing for small and medium enterprises, as well as preparing a national strategy for bank lending, due to the importance of the depth and development of the Iraqi financial economy and the importance of the role of financing in enhancing production and investment opportunities in Iraq, in addition to enhancing the role of non-banking financial institutions that support financial and banking stability in Iraq, by strengthening The role of the Deposit Guarantee Company, as well as the Loan Guarantee Company, in addition to starting to establish the National Company for Electronic Payment Systems, which will hopefully have a major role in regulating electronic payment operations in Iraq.”
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