TNT:
Tishwash: Deputy Speaker: All efforts are focused on approving the budget shortly after the holiday
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Shakhwan Abdullah, affirmed that all efforts are focused on approving the general budget law, shortly after Eid Al-Fitr.
Abdullah said in a statement to the “Rudaw” network, followed by “Al-Iqtisad News”, that “the budget was delayed a lot, and it cannot be delayed any longer, so we decided to conduct the first reading despite the objections to it.”
He explained: “Then we decided to conduct the second reading before Eid Al-Fitr, and it was agreed that the second reading of the bill will take place today, and today’s session will continue, and even if we do not finish reading and listening to the report of the Finance Committee until the time of Suhoor, we will continue reading tomorrow.”
And he continued, “The Finance Committee will have until after Eid Al-Fitr to carry out its tasks and correct the errors contained in the draft budget law, and all efforts are to pass the general budget law shortly after Eid Al-Fitr.”
And he indicated that “parliament’s powers in the field of the budget are defined by a law, and parliament can only mitigate the draft budget law and make transfers in it.” link
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CandyKisses: A proposal to list oil, gold and foreign companies on the stock exchange
Baghdad: Haidar Falih Al-Rubaie
The Iraq Stock Exchange revealed that the shares that were traded during the first quarter of this year reached (226) billion shares, with a financial value of (260) billion dinars, indicating that the number of companies that existed during the trading sessions in the first quarter amounted to 82 companies, while specialists in economic affairs believe that these indicators represent a clear recovery in the culture of trading, stressing the need to oblige foreign investment companies operating in Iraq to list in the Iraq market, and seek to issue laws A new one that allows public sector companies to list their shares on the stock exchange as well.
In order to expand the work of the stock exchange, specialists urged the need to expand market activity, establish a market for trading commodities and have oil and gold trading.
The quarterly report of the stock exchange, which concerned the Iraq Stock Exchange, stated that “the number of trading days for the first quarter of this year amounted to 60 days, by 21 sessions in January, which witnessed the trading of 71 billion shares, with a financial value of 62 billion dinars, and the participation of 74 companies.
The report pointed out that the month of February witnessed the holding of 19 sessions, during which the participants traded 146 billion shares, with a value of 186 billion dinars, with the presence of 73 companies, while during the month of March of the first annual quarter, 20 sessions were held that witnessed the trading of eight billion shares with a financial value of 11 billion dinars, and the participation of 65 companies.
The report noted that the market indices compared to the same period last year increased remarkably, as the index of the number of traded shares increased by (25.8)%, as well as an increase in the value of traded shares index by (56.2)%, in addition to the increase in the value of the ISX60 price index by (9.5) % from the close of 2022.
Dr. Alaa al-Moussa, head of the Iraq Stock Exchange Investors Association, told Al-Sabah that “the market’s management is making great efforts in training its members and listed companies in order to create a free, honest, effective, competitive and transparent market and provide the necessary infrastructure to serve the national economy and help companies build the capital necessary for investment.”
Al-Moussawi explained that the recent periods have witnessed “a significant technological development in the performance of the market, which contributed to organizing and simplifying securities transactions in a fair, effective and regular manner, including clearing and settlement operations for these transactions, and now there are great efforts being made to switch to direct electronic trading (on line), which is now in its experimental stages.”
Al-Musawi expressed his support for the idea of attracting government companies to be listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange in a way that leads to the development of these companies by providing the necessary financial liquidity for them, establishing new production lines and modern factories belonging to the company, as well as providing the opportunity for scientific and professional competencies in the private sector to participate with the public sector in developing companies to serve the national economy.
Al-Musawi believes that in order to increase the number of shareholders and capital to invest in the market, incentives and privileges should be granted to companies to encourage them to list, as well as obliging foreign investment companies operating in Iraq to list on the Iraq Stock Exchange, proposing at the same time the establishment of a market for trading commodities and that there be trading of oil and gold.
Al-Moussawi also urged the need to “create a safe environment in order to attract foreign capital, and work to raise the level of investment awareness in securities among investors, individuals and companies, as well as provide transparency and disclosure and provide the investor with all the necessary information he needs when making his investment decision, and issue the necessary instructions and procedures in order to protect capital and investors’ rights.”
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Tishwash: Central: directed to provide services in currencies such as «yuan or euro»
The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Faisal Al-Haimus, stated that the bank has a tendency to expand the network of correspondent banks to provide services in different currencies, indicating that there is a desire by solid international banks to enter the Iraqi banking sector and work inside the country.
Al-Haimus said that the Central Bank is striving to bridge the gap between the official and parallel rate, and our supervision continues over all banks, by increasing confidence in the local market and cooperating with international institutions.
And he added, “We noticed a reluctance to enter the electronic platform launched by the Central Bank of Iraq by merchants, and there were delays due to the recent experience by banks dealing with the bank, and we noticed that some banks do not carry out the transfer for a long time and arrive at the bank late, and we check it and ensure the safety of the parties.” Dealing with the window, we implement it in a record period, and then release the money.
Al-Haimus also noted that the number of employees of the electronic platform is sufficient in the current situation, and the number will be increased and the work will be shifted to morning and evening shifts in the event of an increase in the demand for remittances in the platform.
He pointed out that due to inquiries about money laundering and other issues related to the auditing authority, the period for releasing the electronic platform’s funds to the beneficiary who owns the transfer is prolonged, stressing that the US Federal Reserve does not work on auditing, but rather the Central Bank of Iraq is responsible for that through the auditing company contracting with us.
He went on to say that there is a development in the Iraqi banking sector to achieve the objectives of the feasibility studies and the expansion of the network of correspondent banks to provide service in different currencies such as the yuan or the euro. There is also an agreement with banking institutions regarding yuan transfers. After a short pause, there is also a desire from solid international banks to enter the Iraqi banking sector and work inside the country.
Al-Haimus denied that there is a directive from the bank to limit the withdrawal ($250) per day, saying: It is the prerogative of the bank issuing the card or the owner of the ATM, and there is no cash limit if the purchase is through electronic payment devices (POS).
The Iraqi banking official indicated that there is a great tendency to deal with cards and electronic payment devices (POS), and there is a big plan to increase the confidence of the beneficiary of these services, and we confirm the presence of great support from the Iraqi Council of Ministers in many executive decisions, as well as the support by Parliament in this aspect.
He stressed that the Central Bank of Iraq is working to stop networks that issue cards with forged documents or to deceased persons, and use these cards to smuggle currency out of Iraq, which affects the Iraqi economy. link
