July 8, 2024 Baghdad/Iraq Observer Yesterday, the Central Bank of Iraq announced that it had submitted the “E-Commerce System Project” paper to the Council of Ministers for review and approval to proceed with work on it.
According to a statement, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq, chaired the meeting of the Diwani Order Committee (24079) to regulate electronic commerce in Iraq with the participation of the concerned authorities.
In detail, during the meeting, a draft system for e-commerce and consumer protection was discussed through the controls discussed by the attendees, through registration procedures and obtaining a license to practice this trade.
The committee contributed to identifying the service provider and granting it a license through an electronic platform established by the Ministry of Commerce, and the members of the committee stressed establishing the controls for granting a license to those wishing to practice electronic commerce in a way that preserves the rights of all parties..
While the attendees agreed to submit the “regulation paper” to the Council of Ministers for review and approval to proceed with work on it.
Realistic reading
Economists believe that the Central Bank does not have a realistic reading of the Iraqi financial situation, while they point out that it is within the powers of Parliament to hold the Central Bank accountable and dismiss those who are negligent.
An economist told the “Iraq Observer” agency, “The Central Bank is living the situation of the Sultanate with itself and does not know about the reality, and it also does not have a realistic reading of the Iraqi financial situation, and
it is required to solve the problem of trade with these two countries, and electronic payment has been stopped for 20 years.” In the drawers of the Central Bank and he did not do it, and it is within the powers of Parliament to hold the Central Bank accountable and dismiss those who are negligent.”
He said: “The dollar in Iraqi markets is a basic currency like the dinar, and the Iraqi currency is 80% equivalent to the dollar, 10% to gold, and 10% to bonds.”
He pointed out that “Sudani’s visit to Washington previously alleviated the dollar crisis, and that the lack of an agreement with Washington caused the banking sector to be annihilated by sanctions, and some reports against banks came from Facebook and led to sanctions.”
According to the Central Bank’s instructions, “the travelers’ dollar is not sold to them at the present time, and it does not include land trips.”
Plug
Observers considered that the Central Bank of Iraq’s sales, in a month, are sufficient to cover the deficit of delaying salaries and other public needs, from the hard currency auction for the US dollar, which amounted during the month of June to more than 4 billion dollars, while they revealed important statistics about government salaries.
They said: “The allocations for salaries of employees working in the federal government occupy approximately 62 trillion dinars annually of total public spending, and
they constitute a percentage of the total spending ceiling for the fiscal year 2024 of about 30%,” and that “the issue of securing salaries is a top priority in financial and economic policy in the country.”
The country is responsible for securing its expenses.
They stated, “According to the standard of support, which averages 6 people per family in our country, the monthly government salaries are responsible for the livelihood of 24 million Iraqi citizens out of 44 million citizens of the country’s population.”
“Government salaries are considered one of the most important ways to ensure the social and economic well-being of the citizen, with the exception of the category of retirees and social welfare recipients of pensions.”
According to the law, “Based on the provisions of Paragraph II/77 of the Federal General Budget Law No. 13 of 2023 (the tripartite budget), the executive authorities in general and the financial authorities in particular provide due diligence in applying the provisions of the aforementioned article, which concerns the submission of the federal general budget schedules for the year 2025.”.
The file is that the “expenditures, revenues, and hypothetical deficit” tables are “in accordance with the technical and constitutional contexts approved by the table itself for the current fiscal year 2024.”
Salaries Are Late!
Regarding the impact of employee salaries and a possible liquidity crisis: “An observer said: “In all cases, salaries are insured even in the event of a liquidity crisis, but the date of financing and disbursement may be delayed.” He added:
“According to the timings stated in Financial Management Law No. (6) of 2019, the Council of Ministers submits the draft budget before mid-October of each year to the House of Representatives.”
He pointed out that the budget is approved by the House of Representatives in December of each year.
4 Billion Dollars
Yesterday, Sunday, the Central Bank of Iraq’s sales from the hard currency auction for the US dollar during the month of June amounted to more than 4 billion dollars.
During the month of June, during the days in which it opened its auction to buy and sell the US dollar, the Central Bank sold 4 billion and 438 million and 744 thousand and 273 dollars, at a daily rate of 295 million and 916 thousand and 284 dollars.
Foreign remittances amounted to 4 billion 50 million 289 thousand and 273 dollars during the past month, an increase of 90% compared to cash sales that amounted to 388 million and 455 thousand dollars.
The sales were distributed between transfers abroad to finance foreign trade, and cash sales to banks, while the selling price of documentary credits and international settlements for electronic cards reached 1,310 dinars per dollar, while the selling price of transfers abroad and the cash selling price reached 1,305 dinars per dollar. https://observeriraq.net/ما-الموقف-الرسمي-وما-الذي-يخفيه-الدولا/
