The Governor Of The Central Bank Announces The Imminent Launch Of A Mechanism For Selling The Dollar, 7 FEB

 The Governor Of The Central Bank Announces The Imminent Launch Of A Mechanism For Selling The Dollar

 06/02/2024   2480 views  The Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, confirmed today, Tuesday, that the electronic payment file is a high government priority, and while he indicated a significant decrease in inflation compared to the beginning of 2023, he announced the  imminent launch of a special mechanism for selling the dollar to ensure that it reaches real travelers only. Al-Alaq said,

 “The Central Bank and the government give high priority to the issue of electronic payment because of its important economic repercussions and raising the level of transactions away from excessive use of cash,” noting that

“the Iraqi economy is a cash economy par excellence and the electronic payment process aims to significantly reduce the degree of economic cash cash.”. He added,

 "The Prime Minister is very supportive of the process of converting to electronic payment and holds successive and continuous meetings in order to strengthen the procedures related to this issue.

 We have made important progress in arranging electronic payment at the level of collection and payment in state institutions, in addition to that the Council of Ministers approved a number of important packages and decisions." Which facilitates this process and does not burden the citizen with the resulting commissions.”

He stated that  “the Central Bank has a broad strategy in the electronic payment file and has developed the infrastructure and covers any type of electronic payment, whether by cards, via mobile phone, or other means,” indicating that “the Central Bank is also working on a strategy of financial inclusion and increasing users of financial services.”.

He continued, "There are direct decisions issued to support the use of electronic payment, including obliging government agencies to make payment and receipt through cards, and

also linking the process of renewing licenses in stores and approving them in buying and selling operations with the incentives granted, especially the government decision to bear 50%, which will make it marginal." At the same time, Al-Alaq stressed that  “the Central Bank is working to complete the establishment of Riyada Bank, which will focus on supporting small projects by relying on the use of financial services away from cash dealing.”

He stated that  "the indicator of the success of monetary policy in any country is controlling the general level of prices and reducing inflation," explaining that

"inflation has now decreased significantly compared to the beginning of 2023, which indicates, as the US Treasury Assistant stated a few days ago, that  

the low level of inflation indicates... Foreign trade is covered by the official rate, and foreign financing operations take place smoothly, and all importers and traders can obtain and control the dollar at the official rate.”

He pointed out,  "The Central Bank's adherence to the rules and principles of external transfer in accordance with the conditions and requirements it set and its insistence on implementing them is what prompted many hesitant merchants to enter the platform for selling foreign currency, especially since using it is easy and safe and it provides them with the dollar at the official rate."

Al-Alaq pointed out,  “The Central Bank confirms the possibility of meeting all requests for the dollar, whether personal, commercial, or any kind, as long as they are valid and legitimate, and

this is strongly supported by the size of the foreign reserves present at the Central Bank.” He pointed out,    “The Central Bank has no problem with offering or selling the dollar, and  it does not place restrictions on sales operations at all.

It has never specified for the bank how much it can buy a dollar, nor has it set an upper or lower limit for a merchant, importer, or user of the dollar, or any other limit.”

 This gave the impression that there was no problem in responding to demand for the dollar and that speculation was useless because the rules for this speculation were not available and incorrect.” He added,

 "Some groups are still trying, from here and there, to stay away from the platform for various reasons, whether to evade taxes, customs, etc., or for the presence of illegal trade, as the drug dealer cannot transfer it through the central bank, or if it is corruption money, it cannot be transferred." Through the Central Bank.

He pointed out that  "the Central Bank is in a comfortable position to respond to requests to buy the dollar and we have sufficient reserves.

 On the other hand, there are some countries that do not have sufficient reserves to respond to demand, and thus they have a large difference in the price between the parallel and the official price."

 Regarding providing the dollar to travelers, Al-Alaq said,

 “After the experience we had in how to sell the dollar to travelers and citizens, we found many observations, including that it is difficult for the real traveler to obtain the dollar, and therefore we had a meeting in this regard, and we will finalize a new mechanism after developing its programs related to this.” The subject, according to which only the real traveler will receive the dollar.”

He stated,  "One of the things that helped calm and reassure the market is the stability of the exchange rate and the  central bank's provision of payment options after currencies such as the euro, the dirham, the Turkish lira, and the Indian rupee, which are expanding."   https://www.nrttv.com/ar/detail3/23091