The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Mohsen Al-Alak, chaired the first meeting of the Supreme Executive Committee of the National Strategy for Bank Lending in Iraq, which was formed under Diwani Order No. 51 of 2024, in the presence of undersecretaries of ministries, organizations and concerned authorities.
A statement from the bureau of the bank received by “Economy News” stated that during the meeting, the importance of the role of the banking sector and government and private institutions were discussed and their role in implementing this strategy and implementing the main axes and sub-goals of the national strategy for bank lending was discussed.
The governor stressed that the national strategy for bank lending aims to revitalize and stimulate the Iraqi economy as well as achieve growth in all fields, to which this strategy will contribute through the establishment and expansion of small, medium and large enterprises, stressing the importance of the cooperation of the relevant authorities in the success of this task, which is a priority at the national level in providing job opportunities for young people and investing their energies and capabilities in a way that achieves economic growth in economic sectors.
It is noteworthy that the Central Bank of Iraq launched on May 25, 2024, the National Strategy for Bank Lending in Iraq for the years 2024-2029, in the presence of a number of officials and representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations, and the axes of what is stated in the strategy and the mechanisms of action on it were determined according to its competence.
“Al Alaq: Bank lending strategy aims to stimulate the economy”
This is part of the monetary reforms. We are watching them do the reforms. We are watching the deletion of the zeros and the raising of the values.
“Iraqi Government issues new decisions”
Everything in this article that they have just done is screaming REER. (Real Effective Exchange Rate) And that is what I am hearing from my folks at the Finance Ministry. They believe we are circling close to the rate change.
Based on the decision of the Council of Ministers to approve the National Strategy for Bank Lending in Iraq on 18/8/2024, which was launched by the Central Bank on 25/5/2024, where the Supreme Executive Committee of the Strategy began its work and held its first meeting under the chairmanship of the Governor of the Central Bank, which is a clear announcement on the beginning of the actual phase of implementing its strategies for banking reform, which includes what is contained in its third strategy, the National Lending Strategy, environmental and community standards and the mesotical governance of banks.
A clear roadmap was drawn in agreement with Oliver Wyman International to start developing the banking sector. This means that it has completed the first phase of the banking reform process, which is to draw up policies, programs and standards, and determine the main and sub-goals of the transition to achieve the completed reform to achieve tangible and important results in the field of regulating the financing of foreign trade and regularization of the global financial system through strict adherence to international compliance standards,
building sober international banking relations with international banks and correspondent banks, and introducing the local currencies of countries with important trade exchange with them to deal with their local currencies in addition to dealing in the US dollars. As well as activating and strengthening its procedures in the transition from the monetary economy to the digital economy and cooperating with the government in expanding the use of electronic payment tools and spreading the culture of transition to a cash society.
Certainly, the above tasks have occupied a great space of efforts at the local and international levels. Within the map of reform, which is led by the Central Bank with the cooperation and support of the government and the support of the Prime Minister personally, the focus will be on restructuring government and private banks that does not allow the existence of troubled and non-sobtr banks, and starting to implement new policies to support and develop micro, small,
medium and large enterprises and support youth, according to the National Lending Strategy, according to achieving two main objectives. The first is to increase the credit granted to the private sector by 4% of the non-oil GDP until 2029 and the equivalent of 7 trillion dinars, and the second is to increase credit to finance micro, small and medium-sized enterprises by 3% of the non-oil GDP and equivalent to 5 trillion dinars (5% of the gap in financing),
which contributes to the operation of 100,0 thousand projects to activate and stimulate Economy and achieving development in addition to starting with the establishment and authorization of Riyada Bank and the green bank’s license, which will specialize in sustainable financing of renewable energy projects, as well as going to the license of digital banks to keep pace with progress in the field of modern digital banking products.
The online platform will also be left gradually this year. One of the tasks that will begin to be done is to rehabilitate banks restricted from dealing in US dollars to comply with international standards in light of the work of the joint committee between the Central Bank and the US Treasury, through which international audit companies will also analyze and audit the work of these banks in the activity of foreign transfers for previous years in the hope that restrictions will be lifted on them. What is expected from the measures and policies adopted by the Central Bank and achieved and what will be achieved later will be reflected in achieving economic stability by overcoming the challenges of stability in the financial system and the monetary system, which will contribute to the stability of the exchange rate and the recovery of the Iraqi dinar inevitably.
Shafaq News/ The Gulf Cooperation Council countries signed, on Wednesday, a contract to implement the Gulf electricity market linkage project with Iraq, which will enhance energy security and allow the GCC countries to supply Iraq with about 3.94 terawatt-hours annually at competitive prices less than the cost of local production, leading to a reduction in public expenditures .
The signing took place at the headquarters of the Gulf Interconnection Authority in Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia, under the patronage of Saud bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Governor of the Eastern Province, who launched the update of the control center systems for the electrical interconnection network, which aims to improve the efficiency and flexibility of electricity systems in the face of current and future challenges.
Bin Badr Al-Aziz stated that implementing the project to link the Gulf electricity market with Iraq will contribute to the sustainability of energy supply and the establishment of local projects, and enhance the stability of the electricity grid in Iraq, which reduces dependence on expensive traditional energy sources and increases the effectiveness of using available resources .
He stressed that the Gulf electricity interconnection project is one of the strategic projects that strengthens the bonds of cooperation in the economic and social fields between the GCC countries and neighboring countries, and enjoys the support of the leaders of the GCC countries in order to achieve security and stability of the energy system in the region .
Bin Abdulaziz stressed the need for expansion and that the role should not be limited to ensuring the flow of energy only; as the actual steps have begun through signing memoranda of understanding to study the possibility of electrical interconnection with Iraq, Jordan and Egypt, and at the beginning of next year, the actual operation of the interconnection with Iraq will begin.
He explained that signing the contract to implement the Gulf electricity market linkage project with Iraq will contribute to enhancing energy security and enable the GCC countries to supply Iraq with about 3.94 terawatt-hours annually, according to the goals set for 2025, and at competitive prices less than the cost of local production, which will lead to reducing public expenditures.