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FRANK26: "MONETARY REFORM STABILITY !!!"..........F26
Al-Alaq: We will launch a new mechanism for travel or treatment transfers next year
11/25/2024
The Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, announced on Monday that the monetary situation in Iraq is very excellent, and while he indicated that external transfers for trade purposes are proceeding smoothly after the implementation of the new system, he confirmed the existence of agreements with 4 companies to launch a new mechanism for travel or medical transfers.
Al-Alaq said, on the sidelines of his participation in the opening of the fifth edition of the Arab Sustainable Development Week Forum, held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and followed by "Al-Eqtisad News", that "there are trends within the government aimed at diversifying and strengthening the national economy, as the banking sector does not flourish unless there is a diverse production base," indicating that "Iraq suffers from a heavy dependence on economic activity linked to the oil sector, which contributes primarily to the transfer of oil resources to the trade sector, and this constitutes a major imbalance in the structure of the economy."
He continued, "In other words, oil revenues are transferred to building the economies of other countries through the large volume of imports, and this requires the necessity of activating the banking sector to provide the necessary financing to establish real projects in the basic economic sectors, especially in the industrial and agricultural sectors, in addition to other sectors."
Al-Alaq added: “I believe that this approach will contribute to reducing dependence on oil resources, in addition to providing job opportunities and real economic growth.”
monetary stability
He stressed that "the monetary situation in Iraq is currently very excellent," noting that "the high volume of foreign reserves enables the Central Bank to support and defend the exchange rate and achieve monetary stability, despite the difficult circumstances surrounding the countries of the region."
He explained that "the Central Bank is working to find ways and means to meet all the needs of the country, citizens and the business sector for foreign currency."
He added: "Whenever the conditions and factors necessary for transfer operations or demand for foreign currency are available, the Central Bank is ready to deal with this demand without any fears or concerns, which contributes to maintaining stability."
The Central Bank excelled in providing foreign currency.
He stressed that "the Central Bank is currently distinguished from the rest of the countries in the region by its ability to respond to the country's needs for foreign currency, whether for the public or private sectors or even the civil sector, to meet various types of requests for foreign currency."
New system for foreign transfers
He pointed out that "there is a historic shift taking place in the framework of foreign transfers and meeting the demand for the US dollar, as there were many observations that necessitated changing the procedures and policies related to dealing with foreign currency and providing it."
He added, "The Central Bank has implemented a new system for foreign transfers to ensure their fluidity and transparency. Despite the challenges and difficulties that faced the implementation of these procedures at the beginning, we have overcome these obstacles, and today the process of foreign transfers for commercial purposes is proceeding smoothly, which explains the general control over prices and inflation, as the Central Bank continues to provide dollars for trade at the official price."
He continued, "New channels have also been opened for transfers using other currencies, such as Turkey, India and China, in addition to European countries. This will make the process of foreign transfers more flexible and streamlined, while ensuring transparency and oversight that enhances trust and credibility in the operations we carry out."
Foreign transfers of citizens
Regarding providing remittances to citizens for various purposes, such as travel, treatment, or any legitimate remittances abroad, Al-Alaq confirmed, “Next year, we will launch a new method to expand and enhance these operations, just as we did for commercial remittances.”
He pointed out that "there are also current agreements with the relevant companies such as (Visa, Mastercard, MoneyGram, Western Union), to establish a new framework for implementing these operations, which will constitute another shift in controlling these operations."
Al-Alaq added, "Next year or the beginning of next year 2025 will witness the completion of the current procedures, and we seek to provide reassurance, especially with some people's questions about the fate of transfers after the completion of the electronic platform at the end of this year 2024."
“There is no sudden transition, but rather a gradual transition that began in 2024, where the banks’ relationship was transferred directly to correspondent banks without passing through other links, and the process has been completed with continued success,” he continued, stressing that “more than 95% of this goal has been achieved, and this process will be completed successfully within the next two weeks,” noting that “there is international anticipation to celebrate this occasion.(!!! !!! !!! -F26)
