The Association of Private Banks to Nina: Iraq has made significant progress in promoting financial inclusion...and these are the requirements for the success of international standards.
The Iraqi Private Banks Association confirmed: "Iraq has achieved significant progress in financial inclusion thanks to the Central Bank's commitment to implementing international standards."
The head of the association, Wadih Al-Handhal, said in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency ( NINA ), that "the Central Bank of Iraq is moving forward in implementing compliance standards and enhancing financial inclusion in the banking sector, and the Banks Association also supports raising awareness of financial inclusion."
He explained that "the success of the basic requirements for implementing these standards and achieving advanced levels in combating money laundering depend on training specialized and qualified staff to use information and databases, based on the principle of knowing the customer and the sources of his funds."
He added: "The Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) has transformed Iraq from a gray zone to a monitoring area, and this is true evidence that Iraq has achieved significant progress in enhancing financial inclusion and combating money laundering and terrorist financing," noting that "the need for legal legislation still exists, and we must move forward in training human cadres to keep pace with the rapid digital and technological transformation in the world."
Regarding the financial inclusion rates achieved by Iraq, Al-Handhal explained that, “according to international standards, the current financial inclusion rate in Iraq has exceeded 46% compared to previous years, which is a very significant progress with which we seek to achieve a rate of 90-95% in cooperation with the Central Bank in the near future. The Arab Monetary Fund is also very satisfied with this rate and is following the growth of the banking sector. It considers Iraq to be implementing financial inclusion through a sound mechanism that has contributed to Iraq’s progress in ranking ahead of other countries.” link
