IRAQ SIGNS CONTRACT WITH ITALIAN CONSULTING FIRM ON FIRST PHASE OF DEVELOPMENT ROAD
The Ministry of Transport announced today, Wednesday, the signing of a consulting contract with BTP Company, to provide consulting services regarding the first phase of the Development Road Project (regarding the current railways).
A statement by the Ministry’s media office stated that the consulting services contract for the first phase of the development road project was signed between the Iraqi General Railways Company and the Italian company BTP.
The statement added that the first phase of the project includes preparing a technical and economic feasibility study and design work to rehabilitate, modernize and develop the current national railway network.
The statement indicated that this vital project is funded by the investment plan for 2024 and according to the directives of the Council of Ministers, to be a strategic line ready for the safe transport of incoming cargo via railway lines, from the Grand Faw Port, which the ministry intends to operate in its first phase during the coming year.
It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani recently chaired a meeting with a delegation from the consulting company for the Development Road Project, to discuss the economic model for the project, in the presence of the Minister of Transport, Mr. Razzaq Muhaibis Al-Saadawi.
During the past two days, the excavation and connection works of the immersed tunnel manufacturing basin with the Khor Al Zubair Canal were completed, in preparation for floating the ten concrete pieces that make up the tunnel in the navigation canal.
The completion of the road linking Faw Port to Safwan City via the immersed tunnel will soon begin, then it will enter through two bridges, as the completion rate of the first bridge has reached 98%, and the second 96%. While the completion rate of the quay structures for the container terminal has reached 100%, and the road linking Faw and Umm Qasr ports 92.43%, with increasing completion rates in the immersed tunnel, and the completion rate in the first phase of marine excavation and backfilling works has reached 79.33%. As for the navigation channel of the Grand Faw Port, the completion rate has reached 77.41%, and the completion rate in the port components is 81%, and in the container yard 88.
😊 Next I want to review the article titled “MP ACCUSES FORMER IRAQI CENTRAL BANK EMPLOYEE OF BEING BEHIND US SANCTIONS”. Over the weekend on Sunday, the Parliamentary Integrity Committee accused a former employee of the Central Bank of being behind the banking sanctions imposed on some Iraqi banks by the US Federal Reserve.
As we know, the number of banks sanctioned is 32 out of 72 banks operating in Iraq. Oh…. what amazing news! This is “WOW!” News for today. But why do I consider this WOW! news?
A member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, Vian Dakhil, said in a statement received by (Kalima) and I quote “that a former employee of the Central Bank hid the emails received from the Federal Bank, JP Morgan and Citibank to inquire about some issues related to the bank’s work”.
Sounds to me like yet another conspiracy exposed. Think about it. This issue has caused the price of the dollar on the black market to rise and fluctuate over and over again from the official CBI rate since the demand for the dollar out paces the supply.
The IMF made it clear that the CBI must be able to control the official rate for a minimum of 90 days to consider it STABLE. Have they done this? Are they able to do this? What is a major factor in not being able to do this? Was it taking the dollars from these 32 banks and creating a shortage of dollars? Just look at the delay in the Project to Delete the Zeros also due to this conspiracy?
The author adds that failure to respond to these issues of the corruption with the dollar led to some banks being punished, stressing that most banks do not know the reason for the penalties imposed on them.
On the other hand, economic expert Mustafa Akram Hantoush said that the statements of the members of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee are closer to reality than the statements of the Central Bank of Iraq.
He added that the collapse of the Iraqi banking system and the punishment of 32 Iraqi banks without any clear charges during a period of (a year and a half) is not normal and from the banking work perspective this may be the first incident of this kind in the world.
Hantoush pointed out that the worst thing is the lack of serious solutions from the Central Bank of Iraq to this situation, but rather the move towards cancelling the (Fitr) platform by the end of 2024 and handing over the dollar file to banks affiliated with foreign investors and banks (Jordanian and Gulf), according to Shafak News.
Hantoush wondered whether the Central Bank of Iraq knows that by not finding solutions for the Iraqi banking sector, it will fire the mercy bullet at the entire Iraqi banking system and it will be punished as a whole, which will lay off nearly (100) thousand workers in the Iraqi private banking sector for the benefit of Jordan and the Gulf States, and why are Iraqi banks not guaranteed to open an account for them in the correspondent banks in dollars (Citibank / JP Morgan) like the countries of the region did.
He continued, “Why has the mechanism for cooperation and auditing with Ernst & Young regarding transfers in currencies other than the dollar not yet been determined and announced?” I assure everyone that I also checked on the information on this article with my CBI contact.
Yes, the CBI did know about the conspiracy and wanted to begin the process to transfer the currency auctions to the correspondent banks. In another article from today’s news (see above) we also read and I quote “that Al-Alaq announced the Central Bank’s success in implementing the transition plan for “foreign transfers, in line with international practices and standards, and that it is currently taking place smoothly and transparently – especially covering imports at the official exchange rate”. It is currently taking place smoothly and transparently? Really?
Al-Alaq also told us the CBI is using unconventional financial practices to implement these financial reforms. In my past Newsletter I already explained why the CBI is going this and we can now clearly see yet more at to why in this article.
In short, the CBI must conduct breakthroughs in the financial reforms, even it means many GOI, economists or even parliamentary officials not fully understanding these unconventional moves. The push is on. How many times has the Finance Committee or Parliament interviewed the Al-Alaq over his decisions to manage the monetary policy of Iraq?
I believe strongly that Al-Alaq knows that if he is guided by conventional practices alone and doesn’t not take some risks in spite of being criticized by his peers, it will be decades longer in finally realizing the dream of the dinar. Let me give you one example of what I mean by the actions of Al-Alaq in handling foreign transfers. Read the next article.
TRADE BANK OF IRAQ EXPLAINS THE REASON FOR STOPPING ATMS
The Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) denied, in a statement received by {Euphrates News}, a copy of it: “The stoppage of one of the ATMs.”
He stressed that “what sometimes happens is a temporary interruption in the Internet service, which is then reconnected moments later.” Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) explains the reasons for the stoppage of one of the ATMs
(Folks this happens all the time in my country. ATM machines are not infallible and do break down or need to filled with more currency from time to time.
They need down time. I can see there was a knee jerk reaction to this situation that got out of hand. This article is just clarifying the situation and should also mean something to my readers too not to listen to the hyped up news.)
The Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) denied the validity of what was circulated about the stoppage of one of the ATMs, explaining that what sometimes happens is a temporary interruption in the Internet service that is reconnected moments later.
The bank’s media advisor, Aqil Al-Shuwaili, explained in a statement: “The bank has not recorded any permanent stoppage of the ATMs,” noting that “momentary interruptions occur due to weak Internet connection, which is common in ATMs in all countries of the world due to technical problems in the communications networks.”
He pointed out that “the message appearing in the ATM confirms that the ATM has stopped due to weak network and momentary disconnection,” noting that “the bank owns 357 ATMs, including 140 distributed in commercial places, 40 in branches, in addition to 180 in the capital, Baghdad, while the rest of the devices were distributed to all governorates of Iraq.”
He explained: “The bank has a specialized maintenance team to deal with electronic or mechanical malfunctions immediately, in addition to providing the customer service number attached to each bank card, where customer inquiries are received 24 hours a day.”
There is no contract rate. There is no redemption center.
Once [the dinar] is no longer sanctioned and they're back on the Forex and they're trading and banks are no longer restricted on dealing with the Iraqi dinar...all you do is take your currency into the bank and exchange it. There are no redemption centers.
Let me repeat this. There's no special rates...no redemption centers...no 800 numbers..no meetings going on in Reno...no bonds that are being dealt with. These are all lies...There's no redemption centers, just take it to the damn bank.
Thanks to the well-studied and wise financial policies of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s government, the country’s monetary position has become very excellent, as described by the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq, in a special interview with “Al-Sabah”.
This position came to reassure citizens and confirm that there are no real fears of any economic crises occurring here or there. Al-Alaq said in a special interview with “Al-Sabah”: “The monetary position in Iraq is (very excellent) at the present time in terms of controlling inflation and the high adequacy of foreign reserves, which enables the Central Bank to remain stable, defend the exchange rate, and achieve monetary stability, despite the circumstances surrounding the country and the region.”
He explained that “the reserve covers our needs, and this is what distinguishes the Central Bank of Iraq compared to other central banks in the region,” noting that “the Central Bank adopts an unconventional monetary policy that is not based only on achieving monetary stability.”
Al-Alaq announced the Central Bank’s success in implementing the transition plan for “foreign transfers, in line with international practices and standards, and that it is currently taking place smoothly and transparently – especially covering imports at the official exchange rate – which leads to general stability in prices.”
Regarding the (Riyada) Bank, the Governor of the Central Bank said: “The (Riyada) Bank will be contributed by Iraqi banks and supported by the Central Bank itself in order to diversify the production base, reduce unemployment levels, and provide basic pillars for sustainable development with the support of specialized international organizations.”