Economist: Discordant voices benefited from the attack on private banks through the media
tack on private banks through the media
2/6/2024 Baghdad
The economic expert, Alaa Al-Fahd, on Tuesday accused those with discordant votes of inciting the street and the media against private banks to harm the national economy.
Al-Fahd said in a televised interview followed by Mawazine News, “These parties spread rumors that there are banking problems in the private sector in Iraq and that there is chaos and fraud,” pointing out that on “the ground there is nothing tangible from these rumours.”
He added, "Private banks began working since 2023 in financial development and transformation within a transitional phase from paper to electronic phase."
Al-Fahd continued, “These parties, whether local or regional, are working to inflame the situation or spread false news to frustrate the resolve within banking institutions.” LINK
BAGHDAD, Feb 4 (Reuters) – “Iraq has banned eight local commercial banks from engaging in U.S. dollar transactions, taking action to reduce fraud, money laundering and other illegal uses of U.S. currency days after a visit by a top U.S. Treasury official.”
The Iraqi Banks have been banned from accessing the Iraqi Central Bank’s daily dollar auction.
The daily dollar auction has become a way of smuggling dollars for Iran, and this is expected to restrain much of those activities.
This is part of the economic and financial reforms Iraq is going through to meet International Banking Standards and achieve International connectivity.
As you can see, Iraq has begun implementing some of their economic reforms as promised.
“A casual search through digests and the reading of case head- notes may leave the searcher with the vague impression that the outbreak of war has some peculiar effect upon contracts, not to be accounted for by any of the well established principles of contract law.
Thus, it is frequently said that war suspends contracts and that the cessation of war revives the same.
On the other hand, it is stated elsewhere in no less positive terms that war dissolves and abrogates all contracts between subjects of belligerent nations.
An attempt will here be made to show that cases arising upon contracts affected by war may in fact be classified by an application of the broad principles of the common law relating to contracts.”
We have said in this room a few times before that history has shown us that exchange rates change during wartime or soon after.
Price distortions create contract breaches between nations and even the people within the banking system. These distortions make it difficult for obligations to be met between all parties.
As we continue to involve ourselves in wars, the likelihood of more distortions will create a need to revalue assets and their real values when this is done.
This is a day by day situation, and changes can come at a moment’s notice. It is important that we stay alert going forward for these changes.
American confession regarding the recent treacherous aggression: We informed the Iraqis after it occurred
The US State Department admitted on Monday that Washington informed the Iraqis after the recent bombing in the west of the country. This is contrary to what it claimed to have informed the Iraqi government before the attack on the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces in western Iraq
The US State Department said in a new comment, “We did not notify Iraq of the American attacks, but we did so after the strikes we carried out.”
She added, “The Iraqi government was informed immediately after the attacks were carried out on sites in its territory.”
It is noteworthy that treacherous and cowardly American air strikes targeted Iraq and Syria at dawn on Saturday, resulting in civilian and military casualties and significant damage to public and private property.
In the Iraqi government’s first comment, the spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces said that the American strikes in the cities of Al-Qaim and the border areas constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
Article: "A government advisor details indicators of the efficiency of foreign reserves: Iraq is in the best financial condition" Quote: "All indicators of the efficiency of foreign reserves mentioned above indicate that Iraq today is in the best condition in its financial history."
Article: "A government advisor details indicators of the efficiency of foreign reserves: Iraq is in the best financial condition" Quote: "...The financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, detailed indicators of the efficiency of foreign reserves, while confirming that they indicate that Iraq today is better off in its financial history"
Article: "Advisor to the Prime Minister: The financial situation in Iraq is stable and sound"
Quote: "Advisor to the Prime Minister for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed today, Thursday, that the future outlook for the financial situation in Iraq is stable, while indicating that oil market indicators are still more than 10% above the price specified in the budget until now"
Article: "Romanowski regarding the US Treasury’s visit to Iraq: enhancing cooperation between the two countries”
Quote: “The United States and Iraq share the goal of supporting a sound and strong financial system in Iraq, which will attract investment and ultimately benefit the Iraqi people. She added: I am pleased with the visit of US Treasury Undersecretary Ryan Nelson to Iraq, stressing that this visit has strengthened this important cooperation."
Article: " The Credit Bank of Iraq achieves a profit of 17.5 billion dinars during the year 2023”
Quote: "For the year 2023... its assets rose to 507.7 billion dinars, while it was 406.7 billion dinars in the year 2022, a growth rate of 24.8%...The bank's profits grew by 63.5% during the year 2023 compared to the year 2022, which reached 10.7 billion dinars ”
Clare: With the closure...the dollar price decreased
1/20/2024
The main stock exchange in the capital, Baghdad, closed today, Saturday, due to the decline in the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar.
Selling prices in money exchange shops in local markets in Baghdad reached 153,250 Iraqi dinars for 100 dollars, while purchasing prices reached 151,250 dinars for 100 dollars. LINK
An “intractable problem” prevents the oil and gas law from being removed from Parliament
Member of the Parliamentary Oil and Gas Committee, Ali Al-Lami, expected on Tuesday that the oil and gas law would not be approved in the current parliamentary session, indicating that the dispute over the law concerns the party responsible for managing the oil fields in Kurdistan.
Al-Lami told Shafaq News Agency, “The oil and gas law is one of the important laws, but it will not pass in the current parliamentary session, and this law will be transferred to the next parliamentary session, as it was transferred in previous sessions.”
He added, "There are many disagreements over the oil and gas law, including political disagreements and technical disagreements, and the most prominent of them is over the party that manages the oil fields in the Kurdistan Region and who exports the region's oil abroad," stressing that "this main disagreement has not been resolved and will not be resolved due to the deepening political disagreements regarding this is the law".
Al-Lami continued: “The oil and gas law cannot be separated into two laws, one of which is concerned with oil and the other with gas, given that the gas comes out of the same oil fields, and the two laws cannot be separated, as the dispute is the same without a solution.” link
