Trade discusses the mechanism for Iraq’s accession to the World Trade Points Federation

 The Private Sector Development Department discussed with the Departments of Foreign Economic Relations and Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Ministry of Trade, the mechanism for Iraq’s accession to the Federal Union of World Trade Points, the legal procedures for joining, and the benefits that the Iraqi sectors will obtain.

The Director General of the Department, Ibtihal Hashem, stated in a statement: “The meeting discussed an explanation of the union as an international non-profit organization, which was established under Swiss laws in 2000 and is concerned with managing and developing international trade points in order to activate electronic commerce, in addition to its capabilities to provide small and medium-sized companies with commercial information for member states located in developing and least developed countries.”

The meeting also discussed the issue of transforming the electronic trade systems currently operating within the international arena in order to raise the export level of the Iraqi private sector and introduce the outside world to the comparative advantage of Iraqi industries.

The union includes more than 74 countries in its membership, including 6 Arab countries. link

Tishwash:  Government Advisor: Al-Alaq’s upcoming visit to New York will support the protection and stability of the banking system

 The Prime Minister’s Advisor for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, confirmed on Saturday that the upcoming visit of the Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, to ​​New York will support the protection and stability of the banking system, while he pointed out that the file of the sanctioned banks requires negotiation due to the possibility of an error or exaggeration in issuing the decision to sanction them.

Saleh said in a statement reported by the official news agency, and reviewed by “Al-Eqtisad News”, that “the Central Bank is a strategic institution that works to support the value of the dinar and its stability, and to build balances in the Iraqi balance of payments, regularity of payments, and international reserves that support Iraq’s foreign trade.”

He added, “Due to the rentier nature of the economy, the Central Bank and its reserves have become the feeder and financier of foreign trade for the private sector.”

He pointed out that “Iraqi oil sales are in dollars, and are deposited with the US Federal Reserve through an open account in the name of the Central Bank, which is managed by the bank on behalf of the Iraqi government.”

He continued, “The upcoming visit of the Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, to ​​New York City in the United States of America comes to protect the Iraqi banking system and support its stability.”

He explained that “the Central Bank, by virtue of its work and responsibility to maintain the financial system of Iraq, must negotiate with the American side regarding the file of the sanctioned banks to alleviate the severity of the deprivation on the banks, as there may be an error or exaggeration that was previously decided to be sanctioned by the American side,” stressing that “there is insistence and communication from the Central Bank of Iraq in a good and positive way to protect the Iraqi banking system.”

Earlier, the Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, confirmed in an interview with the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that “there will be meetings held with the Federal Bank and the US Treasury Department at the end of this August to review aspects related to external transfer operations and discuss sanctions on some banks.”  link

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Tishwash:  Economist identifies weaknesses in banking system: 80% of money supply in citizens’ homes – Urgent

Financial and economic affairs expert Alaa Jaloub Al-Fahd revealed today, Sunday (August 18, 2024), a weakness in the Iraqi banking system, while confirming the presence of 80% of the cash mass in citizens’ homes.

Al-Fahd told Baghdad Today, “The amount of cash liquidity pumped into the local market is estimated at the size of annual government spending, and this includes salaries, wages, and others. It constitutes a large percentage and is considered the citizen’s purchasing power.”

He added that “the rise in income levels after 2003, due to the increase in salaries, led to an increase in purchasing power, and this led to an increase in the level of demand for real estate and other things,” indicating that “the rise in real estate prices has nothing to do with the issue of the increase in the citizen’s cash liquidity or not, because this increase is dependent on the issue of supply and demand.”

Al-Fahd explained that “any increase or decrease in the volume of liquidity is estimated by the size of real spending and the size of savings, considering that the citizen’s income is divided between consumption and savings, and the higher the savings rate, the more it is supposed to be exploited economically through investment.”

He pointed out that “there is a weakness in the banking system’s ability to absorb all the cash available to citizens, as most of this cash is inside homes, far from banks,” noting that “the amount of cash available to citizens in homes is estimated at more than 80% of the issued cash mass, and this constitutes a weakness in the banking system, in withdrawing that mass and investing it.”

It is noteworthy that financial expert Saleh Al-Masrafi confirmed on Tuesday (August 6, 2024) that Iraq is among the highest countries in the Middle East in the file of hoarding money, while he diagnosed a grave error in the Iraqi banking system .

The banker said in an interview with Baghdad Today, “The accumulations that have continued for many years have pushed citizens to lose confidence in banks and resort to hoarding money in their homes,” indicating that “its percentage reaches 70% of financial liquidity, and these are large numbers that indicate that we are among the highest countries in the Middle East in hoarding money .”

He added that “hoarding money in the financial concept is a grave mistake that will confuse the financial process and reduce the government’s ability to provide liquidity to pay salaries,” explaining that “resorting to electronic payment is a step in the right direction, but the most important thing is withdrawing liquidity, and there are several ways .”

The banker pointed out that “the recent issuance of treasury bonds is a correct decision, but the media propaganda to create a culture of safe investment in the street is very weak, and this is what creates low rates of dealing with them, even though the interest rates are attractive .”

He stressed the “necessity of seeking to expand the circle of withdrawing liquidity from homes and creating a movement of money that contributes to increasing the recovery of investment and granting government loans, especially with the presence of requests that exceed by 5 times the amount of money allocated for loans in any sector, especially housing.”   link

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Tishwash:  It can revive the Iraqi budget.. $14 billion in “losses” due to the halt of Kurdistan’s oil exports

 Oil consultant and expert, Govind Shirwani, revealed today, Monday (August 19, 2024), that the losses from stopping the export of oil from the Kurdistan Region exceeded $14 billion after a year and a half of cessation.

In an interview with Baghdad Today, Sherwani said, “The losses of not exporting the Kurdistan Region’s oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan exceeded 14 billion dollars, and this is a very large number, and it could have revived the Iraqi budget, which suffers from a lack of liquidity.”

He added, “There are meetings between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, the Ministry of Natural Resources in the region, and some representatives of foreign companies, but so far there have been no positive indications indicating the resumption of oil exports, but the participation of the three parties in itself is good progress.”

Turkey had earlier halted Iraq’s exports of 450,000 barrels per day via the oil pipeline that runs from the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on March 25, 2023.

Turkey’s decision to suspend exports came after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Turkey to pay Baghdad $1.5 billion in compensation for damages caused by the Kurdistan Regional Government exporting oil without permission from the government in Baghdad between 2014 and 2018.

Attempts to restart the pipeline have been delayed by Turkey’s presidential election last month and discussions between the Iraqi government’s state oil marketing company SOMO and the Kurdistan Regional Government over an export deal that has now been reached.

Among the issues to be resolved is whether Turkey will seek to negotiate the size of the compensation ordered by the International Chamber of Commerce, sources told Reuters earlier.

It also wants outstanding issues in other open arbitration cases to be permanently resolved before it agrees to resume flows, the sources said.

The Kurdistan region is suffering from a cash shortage due to the pipeline shutdown, and Iraqi politicians and Kurdish lawmakers said the region had no choice but to approve the budget, from which it would receive 12.67 percent of the total 198.9 trillion dinars ($153 billion).

The loss in revenue for the Kurdistan Regional Government due to the 80-day oil shutdown amounts to more than $2 billion, according to Reuters calculations based on exports of 375,000 barrels per day, in addition to the historical discount the KRG offers relative to the price of Brent crude.

The pipeline also exported about 75,000 barrels per day of federal crude   link

Mot:  As the UnHappy Parents Drop off da Kids fer School!!!

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