Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Parliamentary Effort To Hold The Central Bank Accountable: It Costs Iraq Trillions And Threatens The Economy
Politics breaking Central Bank of Iraq Dollar crisis 2024-07-09 09:03 Shafaq News/ Member of the Legal Committee, Raed Al-Maliki, announced on Tuesday that he was seeking to hold the concerned authorities accountable, in particular the management of the Central Bank and the government, due to the failure of their measures to address the crisis of the devaluation of the Iraqi currency and the large gap between the official dollar exchange rate and the parallel price.
Al-Maliki said, in a press statement received by Shafaq News Agency, that the continued failure of the Central Bank and the government to stabilize the dinar and reduce the gap between the two prices led to the waste of huge amounts of money and exacerbated the suffering of citizens.
He pointed out that these conditions resulted in the state incurring trillions of dinars and enriching the corrupt at the expense of the people, as the prices of most goods depend on the parallel price, which is much higher than the official price.
Al-Maliki also pointed out that the failure of the government and the central bank to deal with the exchange rate crisis was embodied in several main aspects.
The first of these aspects is the government’s inability to determine Iraq’s position on countries banned from using the dollar, as it failed to reach an agreement with the United States on how to Dealing with Iran and Syria, while other countries were able to find formulas of understanding in this regard.
The "second failure," according to Al-Maliki, was embodied in the government's inability to control unofficial ports and trade.
It was unable to unify customs policy and prevent unofficial ports in the Kurdistan region, which includes more than 32 unofficial ports.
As for the third failure, Representative Al-Maliki says, it is the failure to address the issue of small merchants, as they number more than 400,000 merchants in Iraq, who depend on the parallel dollar to avoid official procedures and taxes.
Regarding the fourth failure, according to Al-Maliki’s statement, the government and the Central Bank were unable to address the problem of speculation and commissions in banks, as banks buy the dollar at the official price and sell it at higher prices without any legal accountability.
Finally, the fifth failure, according to the statement, is to turn the file of providing travelers with dollars into a corruption case amounting to 600 billion dinars, as the dollar is collected for fictitious travel purposes without verifying the actual need for travel.
Al-Maliki added that these points represent the most prominent reasons for the continuation of the exchange rate crisis and the waste of money, pointing to the entry of Arab and foreign banks into the currency auction and the increase in their profits at the expense of Iraq.
The representative stressed that he will use all constitutional, legal and popular means to confront this failure and mismanagement, calling on representatives from other blocs to support these endeavors in order to protect the interests of the Iraqi people.
For his part, Representative Majid Shankali called on the Council of Ministers to take decisive and bold decisions related to the financial reality in Iraq. In a statement received by Shafaq News Agency,
Shankali stressed the need for these decisions to precede the process of building trust between the citizen and the banking system, which is currently suffering from a significant lack of this trust. In this context,
Şengali called for prohibiting dealing and trading in the dollar in buying and selling operations, in a step aimed at enhancing the use of the Iraqi dinar and reducing dependence on foreign currency.
He also called for not allowing citizens to hoard amounts exceeding ten thousand dollars or its equivalent outside banks, in order to limit... Financial evasion and the promotion of formal banking practices.
Şengali also stressed the encouragement and stimulation of electronic dealing in financial transactions, noting the
necessity of starting to implement these decisions gradually to avoid creating new crises, stressing that
these measures must be thoughtful and based on gradual steps to ensure achieving the desired financial goals without causing additional problems for citizens. https://www.shafaq.com/ar/سیاسة/سعي-نيابي-لمسا-لة-البنك-المركزي-يكلف-العراق-تريليونات-ويهدد-الاقتصاد
LATEST FROM FRANK26, 10 JULY
Frank26
The international community already has seen the new exchange rate. IMO the international community is satisfied and happy and anticipating for what is about to happen. It is not a secret.
Question: "Is there other states besides Michigan that will be involved in exchanging?"
There will be many. IMO all 50 sates. I don't know about Alaska. Let's say all 48 states. A lot of counties all around the world will have these private banks. The CBI needs badly to collect the 3-zero notes. It's part of their maintaining of currency inflation...
What do you get when you have the HCL?
Nano seconds later the new exchange rate...The events you're seeing, the things that are happening right now, the alignment of many stars, of many events are only pointing in one direction, that there will be an announcement of a new exchange rate very soon to the Iraqi citizens.
What behind dollar surge against Iraqi dinar, official explains
Shafaq News/ The rise in the US dollar exchange rate against the Iraqi dinar in the parallel market is attributed to certain financial measures taken by the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), said Jabbar Koran, the official spokesperson for the currency market in Al-Sulaimaniyah, on Tuesday.
"The surge in the dollar's exchange rate against the dinar is linked to the CBI's financial measures," Koran explained to Shafaq News Agency, "The Central Bank had previously taken some effective measures, but the current increase is due to other steps that have not yet been implemented. Among them is the decision by the bank to expand foreign transactions beyond the US dollar, which has not yet been enacted."
Koran also pointed out that the Central Bank has not integrated all banks into the electronic platform, limiting operations to only seven banks. These seven banks, he said, are insufficient to handle Iraq's annual foreign trade volume of approximately $50 billion. "I do not expect these banks to accommodate this volume of trade," he noted.
Another factor contributing to the dollar's rise is the reduction in cash injection by the Central Bank, with the exception of today, Tuesday. "The current demand for dollars is abnormal. I do not believe that opening a dollar exchange window for travelers at airports is the reason for the increase, even though it is travel season," Koran added.
Koran also highlighted the large number of exchange offices and companies in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, that the Central Bank cannot meet the demand for dollars. "There are about 1,200 exchange companies in Iraq and around 2,500 in Kurdistan. These companies have not yet merged to form about 400 operational companies. All these companies and offices need more than $50 million daily," he said.
Koran excluded the scenario of the recent increase linked to a political or economic crisis or external factors. He believes that the Central Bank can control this rise, predicting that the exchange rate could climb to over 150,000 dinars per 100 dollars. However, he ruled out the possibility of the rate reaching the extreme levels seen in previous periods.
LATEST FROM MARKZ : " IRAQ HAS A NEW RATE AND WILL ACTIVATE IT SOON" , 10 JULY
MarkZ
[Reference Frank26 post 7-8-2024 re: HCL below]
I will agree with that. And it certainly matches with some of the news I got from Iraq today. I was told from day one that when we see the HCL…within hours - we will see the new rate.
My contact in Iraq works in a government position. He has made the comment that they have a new rate…and will activate it soon. That comes directly from Iraq.
I’m expecting a lot of news throughout the week…i am expecting we will have an extremely busy 4-7 days right now. There are a number of groups with expectations for around the 12th. Everything appears to be lining up...I’m praying this is our week. I have extreme anticipation for this week.
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Frank26 [Bank story] This time we didn't go down, we just called [the bank]... We said we want to see if we can exchange some cu...
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Bank appointment for Currency EXCHANGE Instructions/Checklist Bank Name_________________________________________ Bank 800#____________...
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Walkingstick All these meetings that the CBI had with all these agencies that were helping them with their monetary reform are done. Al...