Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Iraqi central bank governor reveals banking system reform plan, talks ‘sanctions’, 24 APRIL
Iraqi central bank governor reveals banking system reform plan, talks ‘sanctions’, 24 APRIL
Economy News – Baghdad
The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, on Monday, indicated the plan to reform the banking sector in Iraq, and while he touched on the issue of sanctions on Iraqi banks, he stressed that these measures did not threaten the Iraqi economy.
The Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, said in a televised interview followed by “Economy News”, that “the current Iraqi government is very focused very much on the dimension and economic renaissance, and the expansion of infrastructure and services,” noting that “this requires the existence of an active and effective financial sector that can keep pace, activate, organize and finance; Therefore, this file goes hand in hand in hand with the government’s plan within the framework of economic reform.”
He added, “Iraq has a very large financial relationship with the United States of America, considering that the oil resources that form the basis for the Iraqi state’s budget come from the export of oil through the dollar, and this is what is agreed upon globally,” pointing out that “the first stop of Iraqi funds is in the Federal Reserve, and then the Central Bank deals with these funds by investing them in multiple fields inside and outside the United States in central banks of other countries.”
The Governor of the Central Bank continued, “There is a diversity in the nature of these reserves such as the geographical and qualitative diversity in these investments, which are in the form of bonds, gold, goods and others.”
On the issue of financial reform in Iraq, Al-Alaq explained that “Iraq has a multi-pronged program in this framework, as the first aspect is harmony, adaptation, the adoption of international standards in financial transactions and the application of compliance rules and laws related to combating money laundering and terrorist financing,” stressing “the existence of great Doll interest and focus regarding the freeess of transactions from any excesses or irregularities and issues involving suspicions.”
He adds: “Sinceving that the financial relationship with the United States of America is wide and large; it is necessary to protect the Iraqi financial system as well as the system in America and prevent the entry of any money laundering or terrorist financing operations,” noting that “there is coordination and common understanding that has been ongoing, over the past years in order to achieve this goal, which includes the existence of wide plans and programs based on international consultations and contracting with the largest offices specialized in this field, with which the Central Bank is organizing these matters in order to achieve the great goal, which gives positive messages to financial institutions all the world.”
As for the second matter, he showed, “This matter revolves around the reform of the banking sector itself, which revolves around many details in the presence of plans being worked on, starting with government banks such as Al-Rasheed, Rafidain, Industrial and Agricultural, which constitute 80% of the Iraqi banking sector,” but saying: “If we want to think about the reform process, we must start from the most part, as it was agreed in direct coordination with the Prime Minister, the government and the Central Bank on the reform of these banks, through a large plan now being contracting with one of the major international companies, which includes restructuring.”
He continued, “There is a great focus on targeting structuring to upgrade these banks through the introduction of strategic partners from outside Iraq, who have accumulated experience in this field,” stressing that “there are clear wishes from some internationally accredited banks, in this field, and we are still considering the study of the company in charge of this matter in order to attract investors from inside Iraq as it will be like public shareholding companies that absorb capital from inside the country, in addition to the need for a strategic partner to modernize the departments of government banks in a way that lives up to the advanced level.”
He pointed out that “government banks have been long delayed because of the circumstances that the country has gone through, and it is necessary to keep pace with the process of major changes,” explaining that “the detailed study of this project will be submitted by the eighth month, and then there will be clarity of the road map and the next steps so that appropriate measures can be taken in this regard.”
“This is one of the things that was discussed during the meeting with the US Treasury, and is very welcomed by all parties not only in the United States, as it is the existing and continuous question by the parties to international institutions,” Al-Al-Alaq said.
Regarding the US sanctions on Iraqi banks, he said: “We have a close relationship with the US Federal Bank, and what happened is the appearance of a list of bank names, as the issue was not the imposition of sanctions on these banks, or their inclusion in the list of sanctions, but rather the denial of them from dealing in dollars only,” pointing out that “the Central Bank seriously stood on the merits of the issue, and how future measures, and this is part of the dialogue that took place, whether in the presence of the Prime Minister with the US Treasury, or even during the meetings held by the Central Bank with the US Federal Reserve.”
He pointed out that “violations in the banking sector exist, and they may occur, and this is the work of the Central Bank continuously, as we have a committee specialized in fines and penalties, and receives the reports of inspectors, and these fines are expected continuously according to the law on money laundering and combating terrorism.”
On the repercussions of this suspension on the Iraqi economy, Al-Alaq stated that “this suspension is certain to have negative effects, but will not threaten the Iraqi economy, especially as the external transfers and the exchange rate continue normally.”
As for the fictitious companies that sell the dollar, the Governor of the Central Bank said that “these phenomena exist in other countries as well, and by virtue of the technical developments and dealing through the sites, it is an opportunity to circumvent at the same time, and the Central Bank has a thorough follow-up of these matters and are reported in the judiciary, considering that the use of these means to follow others and warn of them.”
Al-Alaq touched on government debt, explaining: “The current government focused on the external debt, which is below, reaching $9 billion for multiple parties, which is the lowest during the past years due to continuous repayments, but with regard to the local debt, it reached about 70 trillion dinars.”
"RV UPDATE" BY DEEPWOODZ, 24 APRIL
Deepwoodz
Article: "The Iraqi Central Governor reveals the plan to reform the banking system and talks about sanctions" Quote: “the detailed study of this project will be presented in the eighth month, and then there will be clarity about the road map..." Im not sure how to take this. Standing on this side of the rate change makes me naturally want to say something negative, but I have to consider all the facts.
Iraq did not JUST NOW begin their banking reforms. They also did not JUST NOW begin to do a study of their monetary reform, exchange rate, or otherwise...
I’m pretty sure there has never been anything like what Iraq is going through right now. There are no experts that have actually done this exact thing before. It really is a monumental task that will have a global impact. I'm as ready as anyone to cash in and I wish it were that simple. Truth is though, it is happening. We are so far down this road now there is no turning back.
US Treasury praises government and central bank measures at Washington meetings, 24 APRIL
US Treasury praises government and central bank measures at Washington meetings
Economy News – Baghdad
Samir Al-Nusairi
During the visit of the Prime Minister to Washington and his meeting in the presence of the Governor of the Central Bank with the delegation of the US Treasury and the negotiations that took place on the financial and banking reform strategy implemented by the government and the Central Bank, the American side emphasized the praise of the reform measures and steps that resulted in regulating the financing of foreign trade and compliance with international standards in 2023 and the past months of 2024 and the bridging of part of the gap between the official rate and the equivalent exchange rate of the dinar against the US dollar.
This refutes the criticisms, allegations and media amplifications of some satellite channels by abusing the Central Bank and the banking sector and referring to some violations in the issue of controlling the cash dollar, which was addressed at the time of the beginning of the application of the electronic platform.
The important thing, which must be confirmed now, is that 100% of the external transfers made in accordance with the new relationship between our banks and the international banks correspondent in accordance with the instructions and mechanisms of the electronic platform are sound and transparent transfers in accordance with international standards and that the window of the sale of foreign currency is an economic indicator that achieves one of the objectives of monetary policy.
“The charges are directed at the Central Bank and banks to waste foreign currency without evidence of suspicions of corruption, money laundering or smuggling of currency, and the proposal that says that the sale of currency is a waste of public money, this is a description that has nothing to do with the economic process.”
It should be noted that “the process of the currency sale window began by the Central Bank on 4/10/2004 in implementation of Article 28 of the Central Bank Law No. 56 of 2004, which allows the Central Bank to sell and buy foreign currency.
This process has continued to meet the needs of the Ministry of Finance of local currency for the purposes of the operational budget by purchasing the dinar from the public for the purpose of controlling liquidity levels, which is known as the process of monetary sterilization on the one hand, rotate the dinar and resale to the Ministry of Finance for the purposes of paying salaries and wages and securing government expenses, as well as meeting and covering imports, and maintaining a stable exchange rate targeted by the Central Bank.”
And that “the foreign currency sale window is considered one of the largest open market operations in controlling the local liquidity levels and putting the cash surplus in its sound paths, which is a good economic indicator and achieves one of the objectives of monetary policy.
This is in line with the multidimensional functions exercised by the Central Bank of Iraq, it is concerned with financial stability, managing the payment system, managing foreign reserves, licensing and monitoring banks and financial institutions, and establishing preventive controls, in addition to other tasks related to the issuance of monetary and publishing data, indicators and economic forecasts.
And that “the main tasks carried out by the central bank are to manage monetary policy aimed at controlling inflation, stimulating the economy, balancing the balance of payments and achieving monetary stability.”
https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=42722
"RV UPDATE" BY NADER FROM MID EAST, 24 APRIL
Nader From The Mid East
You saw Sudani coming back home. You saw he was not big screens...Now we have to watch. Now he's going to come out and he's going to say, 'okay guys, we have to change the exchange rate.' It think it's going to happen soon now. They're almost ready. I think they wrapped up with the United States government and I think it's going to be a good thing.
'Everybody's like, hey Nader you're there for the announcement?'
There's no announcement. There's not big screens...They're going to come out with a new exchange rate maybe a little smaller for now yes..
.You see they talking about changing the exchange rate again. Yeah, they're going to do it soon. We'll see what it is. It could be 1000. Remember we said 1000 and then they eliminate the three zeros...You're going to have to be patient.
How much did the “vote price” for the Presidency of Parliament reach during yesterday’s session?,, 20 MAY
How much did the “vote price” for the Presidency of Parliament reach during yesterday’s session? Today, Sunday, an educated political source...
-
TEXAS SNAKE Texas Snake, [03/16/2024, 10:17:58 a. m.]: Texas Snake, please forgive me I know this is long, but I’ve been waiting for two ye...
-
Walkingstick All these meetings that the CBI had with all these agencies that were helping them with their monetary reform are done. Al...
-
Bank appointment for Currency EXCHANGE Instructions/Checklist Bank Name_________________________________________ Bank 800#____________...