Central Bank achieves new step in right direction to regulate foreign trade, 15 DEC
Our national economy has been suffering for two decades from a lack of clarity of methodology, fragmentation of policies and uncertainty in economic decision-making, in addition to being affected by economic, political and security variables in the countries of the world and the countries of the region.
And inside Iraq, which clearly led to the lack of stability in the monetary system and the financial system and thus to the lack of achieving the required economic stability and what increased the complexity of the matter is the weak coordination between monetary policy and the fiscal policy and thus the lack of clear policies for the real sector, especially for agriculture, industry and trade, both internal and external, and certainly the impact on the lack of control over the operations of foreign transfers of imports in US dollars, which confected the monetary market and the commercial market during the years 2021 and 2022, and the obligation of Iraq by the US Federal Reserve to pass all foreign transfers through the electronic platform according to new controls and strict control to control the arrival of the dollar to the final beneficiary.
In addition, the lack of control of the government concerned authorities over illegal trade and the lack of control over unofficial border crossings, which forced the Central Bank to assume its role specified by Law 56 of 2004 and takes as of the first quarter of 2023 a large number of procedures, mechanisms and negotiating efforts with the US Federal Reserve and banks of other countries with which Iraq has an important trade exchange, such as China, India and some discreet correspondent banks for the purpose of regulating foreign trade operations and controlling the movement of foreign transfers in accordance with sound international banking standards.
The efforts of the Central Bank last week, after a number of negotiating rounds that lasted for several months, resulted in reaching a new agreement with the US Federal Bank and in cooperation with the banks (Ste Bank), (JP Morgan) and (Singapore Development Bank) and through some Jordanian banks, which have accounts open for some Iraqi banks, to open new banks, strengthen their balances in US dollars and use new currencies, namely the euro, the Chinese yuan, Indian rupee and the UAE dirhams, with the aim of increasing the reception channels of traders and importers,
facilitating their foreign transfer procedures, shortening the time limits of foreign transfers in the electronic platform and addressing the rejections that previously occurred to some transfers of some traders.
As well as issuing instructions to allow banks to import foreign currencies that they need for the purposes of covering their daily transactions in accordance with special conditions and controls under the supervision of the Central Bank, the success of these steps requires the banks covered by the agreement with the US Federal Reserve and wishing to import foreign currencies
to provide the necessary requirements and provide all the conditions and capabilities to attract traders, importers and customers in accordance with the standards and controls that have been agreed upon. This may require some time to enter the new method of foreign transfers with direct coverage of the correspondent banks that have been agreed with for direct implementation to enhance banking balances and diversify foreign currencies.
I believe and without a doubt that the Central Bank has begun to implement its new strategy with solid steps based on an accurate diagnosis of the problems of external transfers and the stability of the exchange rate. We hope that the number of banks covered and the number of discredent international correspondent banks whose dealings receive confidence from central banks, including the US Federal Bank, will increase and that the crisis of exchange rate stability has begun to take a breakthrough.
