Is Iraq Affected Economically By The Current Events In Syria? Al-Sudani’s Advisor Explains, 8 DEC

 Is Iraq Affected Economically By The Current Events In Syria? Al-Sudani’s Advisor Explains

Money and business  Economy News – Baghdad  The Prime Minister's Advisor for Economic Affairs, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, confirmed the strength of the Iraqi economy, its financial flows and its trade relations, noting that this economy was not affected by the tensions taking place in the Syrian arena.

The Syrian economy is a sanctioned economy by countries such as the United States and some other European countries, and therefore all banking relations (for Iraq) with Syria are basically unavailable," Saleh said.

He explained that "trade with Syria is mostly border trade and consists of simple, natural civilian goods such as agricultural crops or something like that."

Limited" impact on border trade

Regarding the impact of the events in Syria on the exchange rate of the dollar in Iraq, Mazhar Muhammad Salih said that “the current events are in Syria and not in Iraq,” adding that “the problems in Syria may affect some of the simple border trade known, or which is civil or related to the tourism sector, and some simple problems and disturbances may occur, but they are not major disturbances.”

Coinciding with the advance of the Syrian armed opposition forces and their control over Syrian cities, the currency exchange markets in Baghdad witnessed, last Friday evening, a rise in the dollar exchange rate from 1495 dinars to 1510 dinars per dollar.

The Iraqi Prime Minister's advisor for economic affairs pointed out that "the Iraqi economy, by nature, has high cash flows from its oil trade and global trade with large trade sources, while the minor fluctuations that are taking place are nothing but colorful noise."

He explained that "the parallel markets usually benefit from any political event in neighboring countries, for example, to raise the price, and for speculators to benefit, so this is a temporary speculation that leads to very simple price disturbances, and has no relation to the Iraqi economy, and is called information markets, so what is happening in Syria at the present time will not affect the Iraqi economy, and our economy is completely isolated from the Syrian issue."

It is noteworthy that the volume of trade exchange between Iraq and Syria has exceeded the one billion dollar barrier, according to the head of the Iraqi-Syrian Business Council, Hassan Sheikh Zeini.

There are joint committees between the two countries looking for a mechanism for trade exchange away from the dollar, as Syria currently exchanges with the European currency, the euro, and the two countries may use the Russian ruble, the Japanese yen, the Chinese yuan, the Emirati dirham, or other currencies to sustain trade exchange between them, according to Sheikh Zini.

"Iraq is economically fortified"

Saleh stressed that "the country is immune and there is no fear for our trade because it is governed by the central policies of the state," noting that "Iraq obtains its budget from major oil revenues, which strengthen the banks' finances and finance Iraq's foreign trade, not the domestic market," adding that "the parallel market is a completely superficial market and does not indicate anything in reality about the Iraqi economy at the present time."

The Prime Minister's advisor for economic affairs stated that "the parallel market benefits from the neighboring unrest and does not pose any threat to the Iraqi economy and does not represent anything, and we are immune to what is happening in Syria," explaining that "the problems in Syria are not new to it and have existed since 2011, so there is no fear for the Iraqi economy, which is immune and neutral from the problems of others."

Saleh stressed that "our policies are disciplined, so what is happening in Syria does not affect the overall economic situation, and an increase in the exchange rate by one or two dollars could quickly return to its previous state, perhaps through a single statement."

He believed that "Iraq's economic situation is secure, its oil policies are calm, its trade relations with the outside world are going well, and its cash flows from cash revenues are good and beyond reproach, and thus the economic situation is stable."

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