TNT:
CandyKisses: Central Bank agrees with US bank to facilitate payments from the Iraqi banking system to China
The Central Bank of Iraq agreed with JPMorgan on Saturday to facilitate payments from the Iraqi banking system to China to finance private sector imports directly.
“The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Mohsen Ismail, met with Daniel Zeliko, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of JPMorgan, on the sidelines of his visit to Washington,” a statement from the bank said.
The statement added that “the meeting was agreed that JPMorgan will facilitate payments from the Iraqi banking system to the People’s Republic of China to finance private sector imports directly.”
He continued, “The meeting also discussed a number of issues related to reserve management, liquidity management and technical support provided by the aforementioned bank to the Central Bank of Iraq and the banking sector in Iraq.”
The governor said that “the Central Bank of Iraq is committed to applying international standards in combating money laundering and terrorist financing,” stressing “strengthening the relations of the Central Bank of Iraq with its counterparts in the countries of the world to serve the work and development of the Iraqi banking sector.”
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CandyKisses: Al-Sudani: The wheel of economic reform is moving forward and the loser of those who bet on going backwards
(Political: Al-Furat News) Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani explained on Saturday that the wheel of economic reform is moving forward as one of the priorities of the government’s ministerial curriculum.
His media office said in a statement received by {Euphrates News} that “Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani chaired the third meeting of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and the Association of Iraqi Banks, government financial bodies and departments; taxes and customs as well as border crossings, the Central Bank and trade fairs. During the meeting, I had to
The statement continued that “the meeting witnessed a discussion of the mechanisms used to implement the decisions of the Council of Ministers in financial aspects, in addition to discussing the implementation of the directives issued at the previous meeting,” stressing “the importance of continuing to hold these meetings, in order to overcome obstacles facing the private sector, which the government considers an essential partner in implementing its strategic programs and projects.”
Al-Sudani stressed that “the wheel of economic reform is moving forward, as one of the priorities of the government’s ministerial curriculum,” stressing that “those who bet on going back and practicing smuggling and violating laws and instructions are a loser bet, the government and all its competent bodies will firmly confront all smugglers and speculators,
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Tishwash: An expert presents a solution to reduce the prices of commodities in the Iraqi markets
On Saturday, economist Nabil Al-Marsoumi presented a solution to reduce the prices of domestic commodities.
Al-Marsoumi said in a brief post that “NAS” viewed (February 11, 2023), “Closing the gap between the official and parallel prices is the only solution to reduce the prices of domestic goods.”
A press report shed light on the movement of the Iraqi delegation in Washington in the framework of alleviating the dollar crisis in the country, while noting that the indicators “do not bode well.”
The report, published by “Al-Arab” newspaper, followed by “Nass” (February 11, 2023), says, “The Iraqis are betting on the visit of their country’s high-level delegation to Washington to alleviate the dollar crisis that erupted after the US Federal Bank took a package of strict measures to curb hard currency smuggling operations.” to Iran, but these bets began to fade in the absence of any signs of a breakthrough during the ongoing visit.
Following is the text of the report:
Iraqi political circles say that the indications received from Washington on the second day of a high-ranking Iraqi delegation’s visit to reach new understandings regarding the conditions of the US Federal Bank regarding financial transfers in dollars do not bode well.
The circles point out that the press conference that took place between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein did not include any indications of an American tendency to ease these conditions or implement them in a gradual manner, and that Blinken’s statements did not depart from the circle of repeated public speech about his country’s keenness to strengthen partnership with Iraq.
On Thursday, an Iraqi delegation led by the Foreign Minister began an official visit to Washington to discuss a number of sensitive files, foremost of which is the issue of the decline in the value of the Iraqi dinar, following the measures recently imposed by the Federal Bank on the Central Bank of Iraq, to put an end to dollar smuggling operations to Iran and Syria.
This indefinite visit is of great importance to the Iraqis, due to the revival of their local currency, which in recent weeks has witnessed a serious decline, which caused an unprecedented wave of high prices, which led to protest marches.
The Federal Reserve imposed strict measures on dollar transfers, which US and Iraqi officials said were “aimed at curbing money laundering and the illegal transfer of dollars to Iran and other heavily sanctioned countries.”
The procedures include establishing an electronic platform – which the Central Bank of Iraq began implementing in early December – that requires accurate details of foreign transfers that take place from Iraq.
Among the Iraqi demands of the US administration is to postpone work on this platform until users know how to deal with it, but Washington has reservations about that, considering that this problem belongs to the Iraqis because the agreement on it took place about two years ago.
During the joint press conference with his American counterpart in Washington, the Iraqi foreign minister thanked the United States for “its support for Iraq in its war against ISIS,” and stressed “continuing to work together on the basis of building the Iraqi economy,” adding, “We need your support in various fields, and we will continue our cooperation.” “.
For his part, Blinken said, “We are working to strengthen the Iraqi economy and reintegrate it into the region in accordance with the strategic framework agreement that connects the two countries,” explaining, “We are now focusing very intensively on the economic dimension of that agreement.”
In 2008, Washington and Baghdad concluded a “strategic framework” agreement that paved the way for the exit of US forces from Iraq at the end of 2011 after eight years of occupation.
Blinken stated that “there will be a special focus on energy and electricity in the strategic framework agreement,” adding that Iraq “can and must be independent in the field of energy.”
He pointed out that “US President (Joe Biden) had a very good conversation with the Iraqi Prime Minister a few days ago, stressing moving forward in strengthening the strategic partnership that unites Iraq and the United States.”
In his statements, Blinken did not mention the main issue related to the issue of the dollar, in an indication that the US administration did not respond to the Iraqi demands, which was apparently grabbed by the forces of the coordination framework loyal to Iran, which returned to launch a campaign against Washington, accusing the latter of waging an economic war on Iraq. .
Aqil al-Fatlawi, a member of the Al-Fateh Alliance, said that the World Bank and the US administration are using the Swift platform to impose their will and blackmail Iraq, adding that the United States has passed the stage of military domination and moved towards economic domination through those institutions under the international cover.
And he considered that “those institutions are a bad example of domination and starvation of peoples,” and continued that “the United States at the present time is still the restrictive and pressing element on the Iraqi economy, especially after Iraq’s exit from the seventh and sixth items.”
Al-Fatlawi called on the government to take more steps to disengage from the US Federal Reserve, and indicated that “the government has actually started its steps in this direction to lift the restrictions that the US Federal Reserve controls.”
The leader of the Al-Fateh Alliance said, “The meeting held by the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, with the Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury, succeeded in releasing a lot of Iraqi funds secured by the federal funds.”
Observers believe that the reactions of the members of the Al-Fateh Alliance are due to the great embarrassment caused to them by the American measures, in terms of ways to smuggle dollars to their sponsor, Iran.
Observers point out that the United States is not on track to change its position on the measures taken, for the simple reason that it does not trust the current regime that governs Iraq and which owes allegiance to Tehran.
The Iraqi government had sought to take a number of confidence-building measures with Washington prior to its delegation’s visit, including launching a campaign against those involved in forging fake supply receipts, allowing large amounts of hard currency to be transferred abroad, and banning financial companies and banks from dealing with the central bank through a window. Selling hard currency.
During recent days, the Iraqi dinar incurred significant losses that exceeded 30 percent of its value against the dollar, and the Iraqi market witnessed a dangerous rise in the levels of prices of food and consumer goods, compared to what it was less than a month ago.
The Iraqi government fears that its measures taken so far will not have an effect on restoring the stability of the dinar, which could generate angry popular reactions.
Baghdad and a number of Iraqi provinces have witnessed protest demonstrations in recent days, in response to the high price of the dollar. Link
