SANAD: WASHINGTON IS BLACKMAILING BAGHDAD WITH DOLLARS, AND THE SUDANESE GOVERNMENT MUST END THE SANCTIONS FILE
Independent MP Mustafa Sanad called on the government of Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani to expedite discussions on removing foreign forces.
Sanad said in a televised interview followed by Mawazine News: “The Iraqi government must strongly adopt the Iraqi files, and the most important of these files are the foreign presence file and the banking file, stressing that there are Iraqi banks that were contributing to the activity of the economic cycle and were closed by Washington.”
He added, “The existence of some violations among these banks does not require closing them and assigning Jordanian or Gulf banks to carry out their work, and this is considered the biggest mistake.”
He pointed out that “the US Federal Reserve has reduced the pumping of dollars to Iraq in the recent period, and we hope that this file will be discussed during the Sudanese’s upcoming visit to Washington.”
Oil Prices Rise With Indicators Of Economic Growth In America
Energy Economy News _ Baghdad Oil prices rose in early Asian trading, Thursday, amid fears of supply shortages as major producers continue production cuts, along with indicators of economic growth in the United States, the world's largest oil consumer.
Brent crude futures for June rose 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $89.51 per barrel at settlement by 00:37 GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May also increased 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $85.59 per barrel.
The June Brent contract and the May West Texas Intermediate crude contract recorded gains over the past four days and closed on Wednesday at the highest level since the end of October.
Oil prices rose after Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries led to a reduction in fuel supplies, and amid fears that the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza may extend to include Iran, which could lead to disruption of supplies in the Middle East region.
Senior ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, including Russia, at a meeting held on Wednesday kept oil production policy unchanged and urged some countries to strengthen compliance with production cuts.
The meeting stated that some members will compensate for the increase in supplies in the first quarter.
FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICIES SUCCEED IN UNDERMINING THE PARALLEL DOLLAR
The exchange rates of the dollar in the parallel market witnessed a noticeable decline, reaching yesterday, Monday, around 146 thousand dinars per 100 dollars, a number that specialists believe may decline further in the coming periods as a result of the success of the financial and monetary policies, stressing that the superiority of the official market, represented by the platform for selling the dollar.
The Central Bank, in meeting the needs of foreign trade, led to a decline in the effects of the parallel market for the green currency, while specialists attributed the reasons for this decline to the introduction of the customs automation program (ASYCUDA).
According to specialists, this decline constituted a positive factor in controlling the prices of goods and materials in local markets. They expect inflation rates to decline in the coming periods if monetary policy continues to succeed in meeting foreign trade financing.
In an image that confirms the solidarity of the executive and legislative authorities to confront the effects of the parallel market, the Parliamentary Finance Committee hosted earlier the Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, to discuss a number of important files, most notably the procedures for addressing the large gap in the sale of the dollar between the official price and the parallel market, as well as foreign trade remittances. Through (the platform).” Al-Alaq indicated during the hosting that there were ongoing meetings with the US Treasury, and it was agreed to reconsider the sanctions imposed on Iraqi banks, and that such decisions should not be issued in the future except after discussing and informing the Central Bank of Iraq, as it concerned with monitoring its activity.
In the midst of this, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Dr. Mazhar Muhammad Salih, believes that “economic policy played a major role in imposing a climate of stability in the general level of dollar exchange rates,” indicating that “the state of superiority of the official exchange market in financing Iraq’s foreign trade caused a decline in the effects of the “Parallel” market and receding its illegal activities.
Saleh pointed out to the Iraqi News Agency “INA”, that “the decline in the parallel market rates in favor of the official exchange rate is a tangible success in the cohesion of the country’s economic policy in its three aspects :
financial, monetary and commercial,” pointing out that “the work and high coordination of policies led to providing an incubator of stability embodied in relative price calm and containing seasonal price fluctuations for high-demand items, specifically providing basic goods related to consumption and daily living for citizens,” noting “the importance of using the customs policy, which was represented by (reducing customs tariffs and diversifying imports without quantitative limits for basic and necessary goods) as part of the performance of the financial policy in providing stability.” price and guarantee the supply of food and essential goods and production supplies at the official exchange rate and in accordance with the requirements of the national economy.”
Confirming the views of the government advisor, the economic expert, Manaf Al-Sayegh, pointed out that “the existence of coordination measures between the financial and monetary policies indicates the presence of a sound reading among the pillars of the Iraqi economy, and that the strategy that was developed to enhance the value of the dinar has begun to bear fruit.”
However, Al-Sayegh, during his talk to “Al-Sabah,” urged the necessity of knowing the real measures that led to the decline in the parallel exchange rate to ensure its sustainability during the coming periods, with the aim of absolutely controlling the green currency and preventing its rise again, stressing that this decline in the exchange rate could achieve a number of economic gains, The most prominent of which is controlling the prices of goods and materials in local markets, and reducing the rise in inflation rates during the coming periods, and therefore this is in the interest of Supporting individual economics.
Al-Sayegh pointed out that the past few days witnessed a clear decline in the demand for the dollar in the parallel market, which led to a decline in its exchange rate, indicating that the decline in demand resulted from meeting the needs of financing foreign trade by the Central Bank, and therefore the dinar can gain a lot during the coming periods if it is filled. Most of the external financing needs of the private sector.
Dadoush also believes during his talk to “Al-Sabah” that “this decline will positively affect the level of per capita income, and will also push people who hoard the dollar to give it up and sell it, which could contribute to the continued decline in the exchange rate, indicating at the same time that this decline in the currency Green prices will ultimately lead to a positive effect of controlling the prices of some goods necessary for the individual, while the rest of the goods, especially luxury goods, will remain high as a result of their connection to global prices, which are high mainly as a result of global inflation.
External Remittances At The Central Bank Of Iraq Auction Increased By 98%
Economy Thursday, April 4, 2024 2:52 PM Baghdad/National News Center External remittances at the Central Bank of Iraq auction increased by 98% today, Thursday, at the expense of cash sales, to reach $246 million.
Today, during its auction for buying and selling the US dollar, the bank sold 253 million, 74 thousand and 268 dollars, covering it at a base exchange rate of 1,305 dinars per dollar for documentary credits and international settlements for electronic cards, at a price of 1,310 dinars per dollar for external transfers, and at a price of 1,310 dinars per dollar in cash.
Most of the bank's dollar sales went to strengthening balances abroad in the form of transfers and credits, which amounted to 246 million 964 thousand and 268 dollars, an increase of 98% over cash sales amounting to 6 million and 710 thousand dollars.
He pointed out that the number of banks that purchased cash dollars reached four banks, while the number of banks that responded to requests to enhance balances abroad reached 17 banks, and the total number of exchange and brokerage companies participating in the auction was 40 companies.
PRESERVING FOREIGN RESERVES. AN IRAQI ACADEMIC STUDY ANSWERS THE QUESTION “THE STABILITY OF THE IRAQI DINAR AGAINST THE DOLLAR”
(This article is a history less of what happened in the past 4 years, even covers the Covid pandemic time period. But we want to know where the dinar is right now. Go to the next article for this information.)
Shafaq News / At a time when the price of the dollar is still fluctuating between high and low, and forcing the market to live in a state of confusion, because the hard currency constitutes an important tool in Iraqi trade, being a trade that depends on imports in most of the products in the local market, a researcher whose master’s thesis was discussed, at the Faculty of Administration and Economics at the University of Tikrit, on Monday, some possible solutions to hold and control the price of the dollar, as his message came about the role of the bank The central bank and the window of selling the currency and their role in the stability of the dinar against the dollar and the importance of maintaining foreign currency reserves.
Ahmed researcher Abdullah Okil told Shafaq News Agency that “the study aims to know and measure the extent of the impact of some of the Central Bank’s tools in achieving the stability of the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar during the period (2004-2022) in order to know the places of imbalance and negatives that hinder the stability of the value of the local currency according to what suits the nature of the Iraqi economy, as the goal of maintaining the value of the local currency was the main goal of the bank in order to maintain the level of prices mainly related to the exchange level local dinar against the US dollar.”
He added that “the variables of the study were analyzed and measured according to the program (Eviews 13), and it was found that there is a positive relationship between some of the Central Bank’s tools as independent variables and the official and parallel exchange rate as dependent variables in the short term, with some negative and positive correlations for some variables in the long term, as it was noted that some tools were ineffective in influencing the currency exchange rate, such as the legal reserve, the rediscount rate and open market operations, but the impact of some of them was limited to inflation.”
He pointed out that “while the impact of the interest rate and the window was positive on the value of the local currency as a result of its reduction to the nominal exchange rate, and this indicates the ability of the Central Bank to influence the stability of the exchange rate of the local currency against foreign currency, especially through the window of sale of currency throughout the study period, except for some last years of the study period, as the nominal exchange rate returned to rise, as well as the case in the parallel market by a decision of the monetary authority represented by the Central Bank, for the purpose of facing public expenditures. And facing the repercussions of the global health crisis related to the Corona epidemic and the accompanying decline in oil prices, which is the main source of the US dollar due to the rentier nature of the Iraqi economy.”
He continued: “It was also noted that the gap between the official exchange rate and its counterpart in the parallel market increased due to the increase in demand for foreign currency, and the study made a number of recommendations, the most important of which is to continue to work in the window without overusing foreign reserves and diversifying sources of obtaining foreign currency by advancing development and activating the real sector, industry and agriculture, in order to achieve a reduction in imports, which reduces currency depletion, in addition to tightening control measures to prevent the smuggling of foreign currency and works that affect the supply of it, which contributes to to stabilize the exchange rate of the local currency.”
He stressed that “continuing to work in the window of selling currency without wasting foreign reserves, and diversifying the sources of obtaining foreign currency so that the exchange rate does not remain hostage to oil prices, as it is almost the only source of obtaining foreign currency.”
He pointed out that “advancing development in Iraq, activating the real sector, activating industry and agriculture to reduce imports to relieve pressure on foreign reserves of the dollar, keeping the Central Bank away from political pressures and granting it the necessary powers to deal with fluctuations in the economic situation, including exchange rate fluctuations, and tightening control measures to prevent the smuggling of foreign currency abroad so as not to affect the supply of foreign currency, and thus the value of the local currency.”