IRAN PROVIDES 200,000 IRAQI DINARS TO EACH PILGRIM DURING THE ARBAEEN PILGRIMAGE.
The Central Bank of Iran announced on Thursday that it will provide 200,000 Iraqi dinars to every Iranian pilgrim traveling to Iraq for the Arbaeen pilgrimage.
(That comes to about not even 200 US dollars. The Iranian government is not giving them the dinars, they are only allowing this much to be taken out of the country for the trip. But the good part is it is dinars not dollars.)
The bank’s public relations director, Mustafa Qamariova, said in a statement reported by Tasnim News Agency that “the bank will soon begin distributing the Arbaeen currency, in accordance with the policies followed in recent years.
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Qamariova explained, “This year, the Central Bank will also, in accordance with its policy over the past years, provide local Iraqi currency to Arbaeen pilgrims.”
He confirmed that “the necessary preparations have been completed, and details and mechanisms for the exchange and sale of the currency (200,000 Iraqi dinars for each visitor) will be announced soon through the electronic systems of the designated banks.”
Every year, thousands of Iranians travel to Iraq to participate in the Arbaeen pilgrimage of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), through land and air border crossings.
On July 7th, 2025, the 21st session of the Ministerial Economic Council of Iraq was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Fouad Hussein in Baghdad.
The meeting brought together key government officials including ministers of planning, finance, trade, agriculture, labor, and social affairs, as well as the governor of the central bank and heads of relevant commissions and companies.
The council focused primarily on enhancing electronic payment systems, supporting the industrial sector, and addressing agricultural development.
Key decisions included reducing the issuance fee for electronic payment cards by 50% to a maximum of 5,000 dinars and lowering electronic payment commission fees to 5 per thousand. The Ministry of Oil’s Oil Products Distribution Company was mandated to increase electronic payment transactions to at least 50% within six months, with private sector compliance required by January 1st, 2026. These measures aim to promote digital transactions, especially in fuel stations.
To support brick factories, the council recommended setting the price of liquefied gas at 250,000 dinars per ton to facilitate workforce employment and improve working conditions, particularly in factories near residential areas. The council also approved exemptions and project adjustments related to gas compressors and power plant construction projects.
Additionally, the council reviewed a comprehensive agricultural report emphasizing the need to prioritize agricultural investments, especially in desert areas, improve water management, combat desertification, and enhance irrigation technologies. The report advocated for supporting the private agricultural sector and protecting local agricultural inputs and outputs from foreign competition.
Highlights
💳 Electronic payment card issuance fees reduced by 50%, capped at 5,000 dinars.
💸 Electronic payment commission fees cut to 5 per thousand to encourage digital transactions.
⛽ Ministry of Oil mandated that at least 50% of fuel station transactions use electronic payments within six months.
🧱 Liquefied gas price for brick factories set at 250,000 dinars per ton to support industry and labor conditions.
⚡ Approval of project adjustments in power plant construction and gas compressor installations.
🌾 Agricultural investments prioritized, especially in desert regions, with emphasis on water management and irrigation.
🚜 Strong support for the private agricultural sector and protection from imported agricultural products.
Key Insights
💳 Digital Payments as a Strategic Economic Driver: The council’s decision to reduce electronic payment fees and mandate increased usage reflects a strategic move to modernize Iraq’s payment infrastructure. By lowering costs and setting clear compliance deadlines, the government aims to facilitate broader adoption of digital payments, which can improve transparency, reduce cash handling risks, and boost economic efficiency.
⛽ Targeted Support for Key Industries: Setting the liquefied gas price specifically for brick factories demonstrates an understanding of the sector’s socio-economic importance. This targeted subsidy helps maintain employment and improves working conditions, particularly in environmentally sensitive areas. It highlights an approach that balances industrial growth with social welfare and environmental considerations.
⚡ Infrastructure Project Continuity: Approving the revocation of previous withdrawal decisions on power plant projects indicates a focus on maintaining momentum in critical infrastructure development. Stability in these projects is essential for meeting Iraq’s growing energy demands and supporting broader economic development plans.
🌾 Agricultural Development and Water Management: The emphasis on agricultural investment, particularly in desert areas, aligns with Iraq’s need to diversify its economy and enhance food security. The focus on rational water use and modern irrigation techniques addresses the critical challenge of water scarcity, which is pivotal for sustainable agriculture in arid regions.
🚜 Protecting Local Agriculture: The recommendation to protect domestic agricultural inputs and outputs from imports suggests a policy aimed at strengthening local farmers and agribusinesses. This protectionist stance may help build resilience in the agricultural sector while encouraging private sector participation.
💼 Cross-Ministerial Coordination: The participation of multiple ministries and commissions in the session illustrates a comprehensive, coordinated approach to economic governance. Such collaboration is vital for implementing multifaceted policies that span finance, agriculture, energy, and technology.
📊 Data-Driven Policy Making: The council’s reliance on detailed reports, such as the agricultural status report, underscores the importance of evidence-based decision-making. Utilizing data on water resources, plant and animal production, and economic activities enables more targeted and effective policy interventions.
In conclusion, the 21st session of Iraq’s Ministerial Economic Council demonstrates a multifaceted approach to economic reform, emphasizing digital transformation in payments, targeted industrial support, infrastructure continuity, and sustainable agricultural development. These measures collectively aim to foster economic growth, improve public services, and enhance social welfare in the country.
THE PARLIAMENTARY FINANCE COMMITTEE DOES NOT KNOW THE REASONS FOR THE “GOVERNMENT AMBIGUITY” REGARDING THE BUDGET SCHEDULES FILE.
The Finance Committee of the Iraqi Parliament said on Thursday, July 3, 2025, that it does not know what lies behind the “ambiguity” of the government of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani regarding the 2025 budget schedules. This comes days after its head addressed the government and urged it to expedite the submission of the budget.
Committee member Mustafa Al-Karawi told Al-Jabal, “The parliamentary finance committee still doesn’t know anything about the 2025 budget schedules.”
He added, “A few days ago, the committee chairman officially contacted the government to ask for details of the schedules and when they would be sent to us. However, to date, there has been no government response and there is still ambiguity regarding this matter.”
Last Sunday, June 29, 2025, Parliamentary Finance Committee Chairman Atwan al-Atwani called on Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to “expedite” the submission of the 2025 budget schedules.
A document issued by Al-Atwani to the Prime Minister stated: “We reiterate our commitment to expediting the submission of the 2025 budget tables to the Iraqi Parliament for approval, signaling the start of legal government spending and disbursements, and enabling state institutions to fulfill their obligations, particularly with regard to releasing employee entitlements (bonuses, promotions, and transfers), and addressing the demands of segments awaiting inclusion of their rights in this budget.”
Al-Karawi explained that “the government is urgently required to send the schedules at the start of the legislative session at the end of next week for review and approval, as this requires time. We do not know the reasons for all this governmental ambiguity regarding these schedules.”
Parliamentary Finance Committee member Mustafa Al-Karawi previously told Al-Jabal that “the government, from the outset, was not serious about sending the 2025 budget tables to Parliament for a vote. This was due to a lack of funds to finance this budget through projects and other means, especially since it has not yet disbursed the 2023 and 2024 budget funds due to this shortfall.”
Prior to this, Iraqi parliament member Hadi Al-Salami announced filing a formal legal complaint against the government for delaying the submission of the 2025 state budget schedules.
In a video clip during a visit to a nursing home in Baghdad, he pointed to the poor living conditions of the elderly, their low income, and the budget’s cessation for 10 months due to the delay in submitting the budget. He explained that “there is negligence and neglect that the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Finance are responsible for. We are proceeding with our oversight measures, and we have full hope in the Iraqi judiciary.”
An official letter addressed by the Public Prosecution Office of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council to the office of Finance Minister Taif Sami, dated June 3, 2025, and published on Monday, June 23, 2025, revealed a previous official complaint filed by MPs Hadi Al-Salami and Mohammed Jassim Al-Khafaji against the Ministry of Finance in this regard.
At the end of last May, Moeen Al-Kadhimi, a member of the Iraqi Parliament’s Finance Committee, revealed government efforts to submit the 2025 budget tables to Parliament. He expected the tables to be submitted to Parliament in mid-June.
Al-Kadhimi told the Al-Jabal platform, “We have received information that the Ministry of Finance, along with the Ministry of Planning, is preparing budget tables for 2025 based on recent financial and economic changes with the decline in oil prices. We expect these tables to be sent in mid-June,” which has not happened.
Prior to that, during a meeting with the head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Atwan Al-Atwani, Al-Sudani emphasized “the government’s commitment to ensuring that the budget includes its priorities in implementing its schedules, in order to complete the government program’s components, particularly those related to providing services and completing projects, to fulfill the aspirations of citizens in all Iraqi governorates.”
😊Take a look at the article titled “THE GOVERNMENT IS ACCELERATING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION. HISTORIC GROWTH IN ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS AND FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN IRAQ.” A government source revealed, on Monday (July 7, 2025), the steps taken by the Iraqi government in the field of developing and promoting electronic payments,
noting that since the Iraqi government assumed its duties more than two and a half years ago, the importance of a strong and effective banking system has become clear to it, as developing electronic payments and increasing financial inclusion in the country are considered among its most prominent features.
😊Then there is also article titled “LOCALIZATION OF PRIVATE SECTOR SALARIES, RAPID PAYMENT, AND COLLECTION… AL-SUDANI ISSUES BANKING DECISIONS.
” The number of bank accounts has reached approximately 20 million, compared to 8 million in 2022, a growth of more than 150%. “the digital transformation rate of Iraqi ministries and institutions has increased to approximately 32%, after it was less than 18% in 2022, with a growth rate of 78%.” “the number of bank cards increased to 21-22 million cards (of all types, including credit, debit, and prepaid), up from 16 million cards in 2022, representing a growth rate of 38%.” “ the number of point-of-sale devices reached approximately 62,000 devices, up from less than 10,000 devices in 2022, representing a growth rate of up to 520%. “data indicates that the financial inclusion rate in Iraq has reached approximately 40%, up from less than 10% in 2019.”
So now we see close to 40- 50% of the population have gone digital. We all know that there are about 47 million Iraqis in Iraq. Remember kids don’t carry debit cards or transact purchases, so Iraq is very close, if not on target. We read articles telling us that they are where they want to be with this digital transformation (or inclusion as they call it). Why else would they tell us this news over and over again? Remember that I told you this is an uphill battle for Iraq as the U.S. is using Iraq to get to Iran. The IMF, World Bank, the UN and many other global entities are telling us Iraq is ready to go global. They support Iraq going global.
So why have they now yet reinstated the dinar back on FOREX?
Remember this if nothing else from today’s takeaway: Iraq was freed of all UN Chapter VII sanctions in December of 2022, then shortly afterwards the U.S. slapped on sanctions on major Iraq banks, thus controlling the dollar. Why? The U.S. needed to justify it’s stronghold on Iraq somehow. It just can’t let go, not yet with the Iranian situation looming. But Iraq is fighting back. Let’s see how.
GOVERNMENT ADVISOR: THE GOVERNMENT HAS SUCCEEDED IN MANAGING FISCAL POLICY.
The Prime Minister’s financial advisor, Mazhar Mohammed Salih, explained on Friday the reasons for the delay in submitting the budget schedules, while stressing that the government has succeeded in managing the country’s financial and economic policy.
Saleh said, “The financial compass reading, which required the submission of the 2025 budget tables for legal approval under Article 77/Second of the Budget Law, was truly delayed for two fundamental reasons:
1.The first was to await the amendment to the three-year general budget law regarding the value of the region’s oil contracts and the costs of transporting its oil, which were not approved until last February.
2.The other reason relates to the fluctuations that global energy markets were exposed to and the effects of global oil prices on the general budget, which also required rereading some financial constants and variables, whether revenues, expenditures, deficit financing and its sources, more than once due to international geopolitical and economic problems and the major issues that occurred in the global economy at a rapid pace, which led to the generation of volatile shocks in close periods of the current fiscal year, which necessitated hedging against external shocks.”
He added that “all these factors led to the delay in submitting budget schedules to review some of its inputs and outputs,” noting that “there is significant and ongoing cooperation between the legislative and executive authorities in monitoring and managing the country’s financial affairs, with understanding, interaction, and optimization of great importance to ensuring the economic stability the country is experiencing.”
Regarding the impact of delayed budget schedules on projects included in the investment section, Saleh pointed out that, “Based on the Federal General Budget Law No. 13 of 2023, the three-year budget, the federal financial policy was formed based on an approach called ‘fiscal space’, which gave it the high capacity to move dozens of approved and previously suspended strategic government projects forward into implementation. This is what distinguished it with a highly active development wheel in implementing service projects that the country is witnessing without interruption, and its results have become tangible thanks to the success of the three-year budget, in addition to the major projects approved in the 2023 and 2024 budget schedules, which are currently ongoing without interruption.”
He stressed that “the state’s investment approach is proceeding in line with the sustainability of economic development and in accordance with the high positive results currently achieved in growth rates and the great economic stability that the country is witnessing, whether in terms of declining unemployment rates, increasing economic growth, and price stability, in an active and compatible trilogy achieved as a result of the success of the country’s financial and economic policy without interruption in the wheels of public spending, including the current year 2025.”
He continued, “As far as the rights and entitlements acquired in the operational aspect of the general budget are concerned, but have not been disbursed and are contingent upon the submission of the 2025 financial schedules, these are legally protected rights reserved for their beneficiaries and are not subject to statute of limitations. They are merely a matter of timing and will be disbursed upon the approval of these schedules or any adjustment that does not conflict with the law.”