"THE USD IS STARTING TO DECLINE", 2 AUGUST

 FOLLOWING AN “AMERICAN-IRAQI” CALL… INDICATIONS THAT THE DOLLAR IS STARTING TO DECLINE

Baghdad Today – Baghdad

A number of experts and specialists expected that the price of the dollar in Iraq would begin to decline in the coming hours, following the contact that took place between the Central Bank of Iraq and the US Treasury, with the participation of the US Ambassador to Iraq, Elena Romanowski, while the first indications began from the Erbil Stock Exchange.

And Romanowski had said in a tweet on Twitter, followed by “Baghdad Today”, “I participated yesterday in a call between the Treasury Department and the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) about the recent US measures to restrict 14 Iraqi banks from dollar services after concerns related to money laundering.” She added, “The Central Bank of Iraq took appropriate and prompt measures,” noting that “no sanctions were imposed on any of the Iraqi banks,” stressing “continuing work to improve compliance with AML/CFT systems and digitize the Iraqi economy with our partners in the Central Bank of Iraq.”

The exchange rate of the dollar rose against the dinar, reaching 153,100 dinars for every 100 dollars.

Earlier in the day, the Iraqi Trade Bank (TBI) decided to take the initiative to expand the scope of the external financial transfer process in order to allow the import of consumer goods at the exchange rate of the Central Bank of Iraq 1320 dinars per one dollar, provided that the value of the external transfer for each individual merchant per month does not exceed (100,000$ only). One hundred thousand dollars) and work in this matter will start in the bank’s branches in the capital, Baghdad, and work will be expanded in other branches outside Baghdad soon, according to the instructions of the Trade Bank of Iraq.

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A PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE CONFIRMS THE IMMINENT ADOPTION OF THE OIL AND GAS LAW: IT HAS PRIORITY IN LEGISLATION

Today, Thursday (July 27, 2023), the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee revealed that the legislation of the oil and gas law in the Iraqi parliament is imminent, while confirming that it has priority in legislation after the approval of the budget law.

Committee member Jay Taymur told “Baghdad Today” that “there is a political agreement on the legislation of the oil and gas law, and this law has priority in legislation after the approval of the budget law, and this matter is agreed upon within the State Administration Coalition.”

Timur pointed out that “the coming days will witness the completion of the dialogues between Baghdad and Erbil in order to resolve all the paragraphs and provisions of the Oil and Gas Law, to send it to Parliament for a vote on it.”

He continued, “This law is very important to regulate the financial and oil relationship between the center and the region.”

And last Sunday (July 23, 2023), the Parliamentary Oil and Natural Resources Committee confirmed that it was awaiting a meeting with the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, to resolve the final version of the oil and gas law, noting at the same time the insistence of the head of the federal government, Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani, to approve it as soon as possible.

The oil and gas law is one of the most important differences between the federal government and the Kurdistan region, and the parties did not reach a settlement on it throughout the past four parliamentary sessions.