Economy News – Baghdad
The Prime Minister’s adviser to economic and financial affairs, Mazhar Mohamed Saleh, confirmed on Thursday that Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani is interested in reforming the course of the private and government banking system, while noting the start of the implementation of the reform plan for government banks.
Saleh said, in a statement reported by the official news agency, seen by “Economy News”, that “the banking market is a big division, for example, the capital of private banks or their share of capital from the government is about 78 percent, while the capital of government banks are 22 percent.”
“While government banks account for activities and assets by 85 percent, while the private banking activity is 15 percent, so there are large disparities between private and government banks,” he continued.
He explained, “The private banks almost coexisted on government allocations, whether by window or by opening the guarantee writings for projects, in the sense that any vibration exposes private banks to serious problems, so nearly 29 banks have been deprived of dealing in foreign currency.”
Saleh added that “Prime Minister Mohamed Shiaa Al-Sudani is very interested in reforming the course of the civil and government banking system,” stressing “the existence of a reform plan for government banks, and there is a foreign company that evaluates banking work, its capital and functions until they parallel the work of international banks.”
He pointed out that “private banks are facing a dilemma, especially after being denied foreign currency trading, although they have coexisted with this issue, so the government is trying to create a supportive internal environment for them, and it needs to correct their situation first.”
He went on to say that “the Prime Minister is properly supportive of private banks, on the condition that those banks improve their course of work,” stressing that “there is a reform plan to correct the course of private banks will be implemented soon.”
A government source revealed, on Tuesday, that Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani issued a number of measures and steps to activate the private banking sector, while directing the study of the possibility of enhancing the needs of branches of private banks abroad in foreign currency.
The source said that “within the framework of the Iraqi government’s equest to devop a strategy that stimulates the activity of the private banking sector during the next phase, allowing it to engage more in efforts to diversify the economy and strengthen its pillars, Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa directed Sudanese to adopt a number of measures and steps in this regard, including:
1. The Ministerial Council for the Economy to study the proposal to increase deposits to government institutions and the central government with private banks, in order to enable them to provide more banking operations and contribute to the development of various vital sectors and increase their ability to provide various financing services inside and outside Iraq.
2- Supporting the Iraqi government and the Central Bank of Iraq to the Iraqi private banks through external institutions and banks, provided that the credit classification of each bank is taken into account.
3- Studying the possibility of enhancing the needs of branches of private banks abroad in foreign currency for the purposes of financing foreign trade – the private sector and according to the applicable contexts.
4. The Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Iraq determines the contribution of foreign capital in Iraqi banks and evaluates the reality of the situation to benefit the Iraqi economy, in accordance with the Banking Law No. 94 of 2004.
5- Participation of representatives of the private banking sector when discussing relevant issues in all state institutions, including meetings of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Iraq.
6- Studying the reactivation of the financing initiative submitted by the Central Bank of Iraq and according to the contexts proposed by the Central Bank in this regard.
7. The Council for Competition Affairs and Prevention of Monopoly shall take what is required under Law No. 14 of 2010 to prevent monopoly in banking services, provided that the Council shall submit reports to the Central Bank of Iraq and in coordination with it periodically and in accordance with the aforementioned law.
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