Disclosure of the latest developments in the legislation of the retirement and social security law in Iraq

Baghdad Today – Today, Sunday, the Parliamentary Labor and Social Affairs Committee revealed the latest developments in the legislation of the retirement and social security law, while indicating the importance of legislating this law at the present time.

Committee member Fadel Al-Fatlawi told (Baghdad Today), that “we are working on finalizing the legislation of the retirement and social security law,” noting that there is “parliamentary consensus on legislating this law during the current period, and before the end of the current parliament’s life.”

Al-Fatlawi indicated, “The Retirement and Social Security Law will guarantee the protection of workers’ rights from retirement and the guarantee of professionals, especially since Iraq lacks the existence of such a law, despite the presence of many workers and professionals who have been working for years without any real guarantee of their rights,” stressing that The law will guarantee their rights, especially since the law will be legislated according to international standards.”

The Social Security Law provides for the inclusion of large segments of workers in professions and all economic activities related to social security, such as taxi drivers, private transport, shop owners, industrial workshops and other activities of interest to the daily life of society, to be the first step on the road to stopping the popular advance towards the sector year for jobs.

Baghdadtoday.news

A Saudi ministerial delegation will visit Baghdad tomorrow, Monday

Today, Sunday, a source in the Iraqi government announced that a Saudi ministerial delegation will visit the capital, Baghdad, on Monday.

The source told RT, “The Saudi delegation will be headed by the Minister of Commerce, Majed Al-Qasabi.”

He added, “The delegation will visit Baghdad as part of the work of the Iraqi-Saudi Committee, and will meet with presidents of the republic, ministers and parliament.”

Source: RT

Arabic.rt.com

What are the pros and cons of deleting zeros from the Iraqi currency?

Question and answer.. What are the pros and cons of deleting zeros from the Iraqi currency? What are the conditions for it?

Experts have warned that deleting 3 zeros from the Iraqi currency may cause psychological disturbances in the Iraqi market.

Mosul – Iraq is witnessing a severe financial crisis that began with the outbreak of the Corona virus last year and the decline in global demand for oil, which represents nearly 91% of Iraq’s financial imports.

With the continuation of the financial crisis and the failure to pay the salaries of employees last year, the Iraqi government resorted to what was called the Iraqi government reform paper (the white paper), which included the devaluation of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar, and the decision entered into force at the beginning of this year.

Deleting zeros or printing a new category?.. Iraqi government options to save the dinar from collapse من

Iraq .. Why did the Central Bank reduce the value of the dinar?

The devaluation of the dinar shocks the Iraqi street..and these are its repercussions
With the rise in oil prices globally, the Iraqi government has been thinking about long-term financial strategies that may protect the country from the risks of falling into a financial crisis that may be more influential. , without specifying a date for the implementation of this step.

Saleh believes that deleting zeros from the currency is a necessary condition to reduce accounting numbers and facilitate arithmetic (Al-Jazeera)

What are the conditions for deleting zeros?

Deleting zeros from the Iraqi currency requires the fulfillment of two conditions, according to Saleh. The first is price stability within the country, which means the stability of the dollar exchange rate against the Iraqi dinar, which is still witnessing relative volatility after the Iraqi government decided to raise the value of the dollar at the beginning of this year.

As for the second condition, Salj adds in his speech to Al Jazeera Net that it is represented by stability in political life inside Iraq, which is what is required to change the exchange rate from laws and political consensus and so on.

Why deleting?

In his interpretation of the reasons for deleting 3 zeros from the Iraqi currency (a dollar is equivalent to 1450 Iraqi dinars), Saleh comments, “The importance of deleting zeros from the currency and slimming its units as a necessary condition to reduce accounting numbers and facilitate arithmetic and the cost of managing new large numbers and the absence of small numbers and fractions.”

He continues that the slimming of coins comes because of their role in sustaining the calculation of huge numbers of financial values ​​that are not absorbed by ordinary computers due to the large number of decimal places and the emergence of many accounting errors, especially when dealing with trillions, which means that one number in front of it has 12 decimal places.

Regarding the importance of the deletion process and the extent of its realism, Saleh indicated that the Central Bank of Iraq put a project to delete 3 zeros from the Iraqi currency the subject of research and study a long time ago, after reviewing 54 international experiences since the end of World War II until now, the last of which was in Iran and before it. Turkey.

Rashid believes that the current economic situation in Iraq is not ready to delete zeros from the local currency (Al-Jazeera)

What (are the) effects?

For his part, a member of the Iraqi Parliament’s Finance Committee, Ahmed Hama Rashid, confirmed that the current economic situation in Iraq is not ready to delete zeros from the local currency.

Hama Rashid continued in his speech to Al Jazeera Net that this process means withdrawing the current currency denominations and printing new ones, which requires huge funds to print them with technical specifications necessary to protect the currency from counterfeiting, in addition to the fact that replacing the currency will destabilize the monetary system, which may cause successive collapses, enslaving that The Central Bank of Iraq takes such a step.

A member of the Finance Committee, Jamal Cougar, agrees with this proposition by confirming that this step is excluded in the next two years at the very least for several considerations, as he believes that deleting zeros is an unworkable step, especially that changing the currency exchange rate led to a shock to the Iraqi street, and therefore Iraqis are not Prepare for another shock.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Cougar points out that the Iraqi economy does not have its own decision, and that many countries benefit from the current Iraqi currency in buying and selling transactions and others.

Cougar: The lower the number of currency numbers, the greater its strength among currencies in the economic perspective (Al-Jazeera)

What are the benefits?

As for the benefits, Cougar believes that the smaller the number of currency numbers, the greater its strength among currencies in the economic perspective. However, this requires strengthening the local economy inside the country and diversifying the sources of the Iraqi budget, which requires strengthening industry and agriculture as a preliminary condition for this step.

And about the extent of the benefit deriving from this change in restoring the Iraqi cash block hoarded by the Iraqis or smuggled abroad, he explained that the international deal in the Iraqi currency is not related to the number of zeros as much as it relates to the strength of investments inside the country and the size of the Iraqi product exported abroad.

Cougar gives an example of this, that Turkey, which deleted zeros from its currency years ago, has embarked on building a diverse and large economy and investments, and this is different from the Iraqi situation, whose currency is not found on the global currency exchanges so far.

On the other hand, Abdul Rahman al-Mashhadani, a professor of economics at the Iraqi University, believes that deleting zeros will save the state the costs of transferring the Iraqi currency between the central bank and government and private banks.

Al-Mashhadani continues in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that deleting zeros may lead to a decline in Iraqis’ demand for the dollar for the sake of hoarding, as the Iraqis currently keep the dollar for ease of preservation, while preserving the same value in the Iraqi currency requires greater storage capacity, pointing out that this is conditional on printing cash denominations. A new denomination with a value higher than what is currently in existence, such as printing a denomination of 200 dinars (equivalent to 200 thousand dinars in the current currency), which requires 4 banknotes of a denomination of 50 thousand.

Al-Shamaa believes that deleting zeros from the currency will not do anything for the Iraqi economy (Al-Jazeera)

Who is the loser?

In every economic equation, the ratio of profit and loss is calculated, which is what the economist Hammam Al-Shamma points out that this ratio will not be equally present in the equation, warning of psychological disturbances in the Iraqi market if zeros are deleted.

Al-Shamma comments to Al-Jazeera Net, “Deleting zeros from the currency will not provide anything for the Iraqi economy, but rather it will cost the Iraqi state huge sums of money to print a new currency without this having a clear impact on the local economy.”
Al-Shammaa points out that the competitiveness of Iraqi goods against the imported ones will not witness a positive change inside the country, especially since international transactions are mostly made in US dollars.

This is confirmed by Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani, professor of economics at the Iraqi University, and adds that competition with imported goods depends on the local product and its strength, pointing out that Iraq does not have industries that can compete with imported goods and overcome them in terms of quality, price, and state protection for them, according to him.

Returning to Ahmed Hama Rashid, where he believes that deleting zeros from the currency will not be in the interest of the government currently, inferring that Iraq has 80 trillion Iraqi dinars from multiple monetary categories, and that printing 5 trillion dinars from the category (50 thousand) cost the Iraqi government 60 million dollars At that time, the cost of the rest of the denominations will be much greater, given that printing each denomination costs approximately (6 US cents) on average, according to him.

Who is the winner?

In contrast to the losing party, Al-Shammaa believes that the government may derive limited benefits from deleting zeros, which is that the government and the central bank will face fewer problems in the accounting system and final accounts with limited zeros and small accounting numbers.

The last proposition is consistent with what was revealed by the economic advisor to the Prime Minister that the hyperinflation that hit the Iraqi economy in the nineties of the last century added 3 numbers to the Iraqi monetary unit, while the small categories disappeared from circulation completely, as the category (250 dinars) became smaller. A monetary unit in daily circulation inside the country, which raised the cost of micro-transactions, as well as the inflation caused by the appearance of the huge numbers circulating in the accounting system inside the country.

Aljazeera.net

Council of Ministers decides to activate the National Oil Company and contracts with a former minister as an expert

A document issued by the Council of Ministers for the decision to activate the National Oil Company. The document clarifies the decision of the Council of Ministers to activate the National Oil Company, which will include all oil companies in Iraq.

The council, headed by Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, decided to contract with former Oil Minister Thamer Al-Ghadban to work as an expert for the company’s board of directors. The document adds that the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Planning, Maher Hammad Johan, and the First Undersecretary of the Director General of the Basra Oil Company are assigned to work as a member of the National Oil Company’s management. It also refers to the selection of the Director-General of the North Oil Company to membership in the Board of Directors of the National Oil Company.

Aynaliraqnews.com

Confidence in the Iraqi dinar is eroding… and the prospect of removing zeros

Baghdad / Obelisk: Iraq is witnessing a severe financial crisis that began with the outbreak of the Corona virus last year and the decline in global demand for oil, which represents nearly 91% of Iraq’s financial imports.

With the continuation of the financial crisis and the failure to pay the salaries of employees last year, the government resorted to what was called the Iraqi government reform paper (the white paper), which included the devaluation of the Iraqi dinar against the US dollar, and the decision entered into force at the beginning of this year.

With the rise in oil prices globally, the Iraqi government has been thinking about long-term financial strategies that may protect the country from falling into a financial crisis that may be more influential. One of these strategies was put forward by the economic advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, and is represented in deleting 3 zeros from the Iraqi currency, Without specifying a date for the implementation of this step.

In every economic equation, the ratio of profit and loss is calculated, which is indicated by the economist Hammam Al-Shamma that this ratio will not be equally present in the equation, warning of psychological disturbances in the Iraqi market in the event of deleting zeros.

In contrast to the losing party, Al-Shammaa believes that the government may derive limited benefits from deleting zeros, which is that the government and the central bank will face fewer problems in the accounting system and final accounts with limited zeros and small accounting numbers.

On Sunday, June 20, 2021, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, set two conditions for deleting 3 zeros from the currency, while stressing that the option to delete is proposed as part of the strategies for reforming the currency and cash payments system in Iraq.

Saleh told the Obelisk, “The Central Bank of Iraq developed a project to delete three zeros from the Iraqi currency in order to reform the cash payments system, which has become burdened with the insomnia of the economic blockade imposed in the nineties of the last century, and put it into research and study long ago, after looking at about 54 An international experience from the end of the Second World War until the second decade of the twenty-first century, which took place in various countries of the world, in which the monetary payment systems were reformed and made to work more efficiently, the last of which was the Islamic Republic of Iran and before that, Turkey.

He added that “the phenomenon of increasing zeros in the monetary unit or adding zeros to a single monetary unit usually comes due to the exposure of economies to unruly waves of inflation or continuous sharp rises for years in the price level due to wars, sieges and conflicts, which lead to financing the deficit of government budgets through cash issuance.” .

And because the price means the value of goods and services expressed in cash, the continuous rise in prices without stopping leads to the erosion of the value of the monetary unit, which requires the issuance of larger monetary categories due to the lack of value of the smaller monetary groups and the disappearance of their ability to cover transactions and exchanges of high monetary value in the market.

He continued, “Accordingly, the monetary value of things or tangible assets and others inflates, and when inflation ends, according to which prices have increased to three decimal places, or more or less, according to the nature of each economy, countries resort to reducing the artificial reproduction in numbers, especially in the numbers of accounts books, budgets and various numbers of tools Accountability, after two conditions are met.

He continued, “The first condition is price stability and global economic growth, and the second is appropriate stability in political life, so the importance of deleting zeros from the currency and slimming currency units as a necessary condition for reducing accounting numbers and facilitating arithmetic handling and the cost of managing new large numbers and the absence of small numbers and fractions, as it is noted that slimming currencies Cash comes because of its role in the sustainability of calculating huge numbers of financial values ​​that are not absorbed by ordinary computers due to the large number of decimal places and the emergence of many accounting errors, especially dealing in trillions, which means that one number in front of it has 12 decimal places.

Saleh believed that “the hyperinflation that hit the Iraqi economy in the nineties of the last century added three numbers to the Iraqi monetary unit (that is, one dinar became equal to a thousand dinars, and ten dinars became ten thousand dinars, and so on for the rest of the categories), while the small categories disappeared from circulation completely, but rather Every 250 fils became equal to 250 dinars, and it was considered the smallest monetary unit in circulation today, which raised the cost of micro-transactions that mostly affect the poor.

He added, “In this way, monetary systems aspire to remove the burden of historical inflation from the folds of the monetary unit by resorting to deleting three zeros from the old currency in order to equalize the new currency with lower numbers but with the same value. Let’s say, for example, that one new dinar is equal to 1000 old dinars without change in value or rights. The accounting books, statistics, numbers and computer systems are also modified with the value of the new currency within an easy and easy reform strategy, and countries consider that slimming the currency system facilitates the circulation of mathematical numbers and helps to issue smaller cash denominations for very small transactions whose monetary values ​​have been destroyed by historical inflation in our country such as the dirham and others.

He concluded by saying, “The project to delete zeros in Iraq is still technically prepared by the Central Bank of Iraq, which is the official sectoral authority and the monetary authority concerned with this matter and in cooperation with all three state agencies and authorities, but the project is postponed at the present time until the appropriate conditions are achieved and remains part of the currency system reform strategies. and cash payments in Iraq.

Almasalah.com

Foreign Ministry: Discussions to overcome obstacles to Iraq’s accession to the World Trade Organization

Baghdad – Mawazine News: Iraq’s permanent representative to the United Nations discussed overcoming obstacles to Iraq’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

In a statement received by Mawazine News, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Al-Sahhaf said that “the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Iraq to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Ambassador Abdul Karim Hashem Mustafa, meets with the Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Xiangchen, and they discuss ways to Activating the file of Iraq’s accession to the organization.

He added, “The two sides also discussed the importance of continuing work in completing technical documents to complete the requirements for accession, and to overcome obstacles and challenges facing the accession process.” Ended 29/A87

Mawazin.net

A new comment from the government regarding the change in the dollar exchange rate

Baghdad – Mawazine News, the economic advisor to the Prime Minister, Alaa Abdel Hussein, spoke today, Saturday, about the government’s vision to address the change in the exchange rate of the dollar against the Iraqi dinar, especially with regard to its effects on investment projects, while stressing that there are 3 reasons preventing the change now.

Abdul-Hussein said, “With regard to investment projects in the beginning and the issue of the exchange rate, many of the materials that contractors enter to work are imported from abroad, and cost accounts and previous contracts are fixed at the old exchange rate, especially contracts that take a long time.”

He added, “The vision of the treatment is more comprehensive than being money or seeing the exchange rate, and it is applied as a development project, as the problem of the exchange rate difference, if not addressed, will lead to project disruption, erosion of the achievement, delay in development and the benefit that comes from the project,” pointing out that “the treatment.” It comes from the perspective that there are projects we are waiting for completion, and by completing them, the benefit of the people will be achieved, and therefore the main and supreme goal is treatment in order to hasten the benefits derived from these projects for the people.”

He explained that “the projects were divided into a number of sections according to their type, including construction projects, electrical and metal projects, and others, and each type of them contains materials imported from abroad, and therefore the percentages were determined based on the price changes that occurred, and then work is done on the treatment.” He stressed that “prices did not change due to the exchange rate only, but prices at the global level changed, and the reason for this is the increase in demand as a result of the Corona pandemic, as the world stopped, and this led to all countries depleting their stocks of materials in addition to their monthly consumption, which led to an increase in demand to cover its strategic stocks and its monthly consumer demand.

He continued: “If we look at the increase in demand with the stability of the production capacity of factories in the world, we find that this led to a general rise in all prices globally, and therefore the price change did not come as a result of changing the exchange rate in Iraq, but rather at the world level.”

And he indicated that “within the foreseeable future, the exchange rate cannot be reconsidered for several reasons, including firstly that the exchange rate is a prerogative of the Central Bank, and secondly that the current rate was approved in the budget law and is valid, in addition to a third reason is that all revenues from Oil, even if it increases, will only be able to cover the budget deficit of about 30 trillion dinars, and therefore we do not expect to guarantee oil prices for the next six months, and it is dangerous to think about dealing with the exchange rate now.”

And regarding the budget for the next four years, Abdul Hussein said, “The Minister of Finance, Ali Abdul Amir Allawi, heads a committee of various ministries and government agencies to develop general strategies for the budget of the next years 2022 to 2024, and the broad outlines are not yet clear as far as the ministries’ budget is discussed in light of The priorities set by the Iraqi state.” Ended 29 / h

Mawazin.net

Iraq opens up to countries around the world to develop the industrial sector

Baghdad: At a time when Minister of Industry Manhal al-Khabbaz revealed government directives to open up to countries around the world to develop the industrial sector, an economist saw that partnerships are important to revive factories and laboratories and develop production lines.

The baker discussed with the French Chargé d’Affairs in Baghdad, Jean-Noel Boniot, the opportunities available to enhance cooperation and partnership between Iraq and France in various industrial fields. During the meeting, the Minister of Industry confirmed that there are directives from Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi to open up to the countries of the world to develop the Iraqi industrial sector, including France, in light of the good and friendly relations that bind the two countries, pointing out that the ministry had previously cooperated with France through projects and production lines in most of the countries. The Ministry’s factories, especially the successful investment experience with the French company Lafarge in the Karbala cement plant.

For his part, the French Chargé d’Affairs affirmed the willingness and seriousness of his country’s government to cooperate with Iraq in various industrial fields, and to contribute to the development of the Iraqi industrial reality and the implementation of joint projects.
Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi had recently discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron by phone, strengthening joint cooperation between Baghdad and Paris, during which the importance of developing economic cooperation between the two countries, as well as providing the appropriate environment for French companies to work and invest in Iraq, while Macron renewed his support for the Iraqi government, and the willingness of France to provide various aspects of support needed by the Iraqi government.

In a related context, industrial expert Aqil Al-Saadi confirmed to Al-Sabah the importance of partnerships between Iraqi and French companies, whether governmental or private.

Al-Saadi pointed to “the need to support the trends of government openness to the countries of the world, to attract international investment companies, and to agree with them to establish industrial development projects that provide job opportunities for young people and advance the national industry.”

He added that “the competent government agencies should work to revive the stalled factories and factories by supporting international partnerships and helping local businessmen and investors,” pointing out “the importance of the state sponsoring meetings and meetings between Iraqi and foreign businessmen and industrialists, especially since the private sector is the supporter.” President for the advancement of industrial reality.

The specialist in industrial affairs, Abdul-Hassan Al-Shammari, stated that “Iraq suffers from the suspension of thousands of industrial projects in all the public and private productive sectors and the mixed sector, which makes us urgently need to cooperate with the international industrial effort, and France is one of the most important industrial countries in the world and we can extend bridges of cooperation.” We are building bilateral relations that contribute to reviving a large percentage of our industry.”
He cautioned that «the Iraqi economy is in dire need to rotate the wheel of industrial production, which is the focus of development in the country».

Alsabaah.iq

Al-Kazemi is in Washington looking to keep Iraq away from conflicts and advance the economy and investment

Baghdad / Obelisk: A source close to the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, revealed, about Al-Kazemi’s visit to the United States.

The source said that Al-Kazemi will discuss with US President Joe Biden, security and economic relations, and ways to consolidate stability in Iraq by keeping it away from regional conflicts at a time when the Iraqi arena is witnessing a security escalation against the international coalition forces.

According to the source, Al-Kazemi received an invitation from the United States, to meet with President Biden, to discuss common issues, and the visit is scheduled to be completed in the near future.

Al-Kazemi attaches great importance to clarifying the shape of the relationship with the United States, foreseeing the axes of strategic dialogue, and discussing the common files between Washington and Baghdad, while also focusing on evacuating his country from any repercussions of any regional conflict, and benefiting from the American side in improving electrical energy, and investing to build the infrastructure. Infrastructure torn apart by war, corruption and mismanagement for nearly two decades.

In April 2021, Al-Kazemi counted the results of the third round of dialogue with the United States of America as “a gateway to restore Iraq to its normal state.”
In his policies, Al-Kazemi focuses on dialogue to resolve crises and keep his country away from conflicts, wars and adventures.

Almasalah.com

Finance Minister: The white paper will set the main steps for preparing budgets for the coming years

Baghdad – Mawazine News, Minister of Finance, Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi, confirmed, on Sunday, that the white paper will set the main steps for preparing budgets for the coming years.

A statement by the ministry, which Mawazine News received a copy of, stated that “the Minister of Finance, Ali Abdul Amir Allawi, chaired, today, at the ministry’s headquarters, a session to follow up on the implementation of the reform projects of the “white paper” in the presence of the Executive Director of the Economic Reform Committee Alaa Al-Saadi and the Undersecretary of the Ministry Taif Sami Advisers to the Minister of Finance and the general directors of the ministry.

The statement added that “the meeting discussed the reform axes identified by the white paper represented by the public financial management and financial information systems, as part of its steps, which are among the important steps to achieve sustainable financial stability and give an opportunity to achieve other structural reforms.”

He continued, “The meeting discussed the implementation of the integrated financial information management system project, which will contribute to increasing the speed of electronic communication for the ministry and the rest of the ministries in order to provide accurate information and will enhance the supervisory role on financial accounts and not exceed the financial appropriations established in the budget, in addition to facilitating the process of implementing the program and performance budget.”

The minister said, “The application of the financial management system and the information management system will enhance the state’s access to the necessary funds and control government spending, which will lead to spending these funds efficiently and effectively in accordance with the state’s financial policy.”

Allawi indicated, “The continuing follow-up to the content of the white paper to reform the financial and economic affairs, which will set the main steps for preparing budgets for the coming years.” Ended 29/A43

Mawazin.net