The current economic crisis may increase the dollar exchange rate

Baghdad / NINA / – The economic expert, Saleh Al-Hamashi, confirmed that: the current economic crisis may increase the dollar exchange rate to a new figure.

He told the National Iraqi News Agency ( NINA ): “The current exchange rate of the dinar, I do not think that it will change to what it was before 2020, that is, at a price of 1200 dinars per dollar.”

Al-Hamashi attributed this to: “The Iraqi monetary bloc is unable to meet the Iraqi economic activity, in addition to the fact that oil prices, despite their high, were not able to cover the budget deficit, and that the price of $95, at a rate of four million barrels per day, would then be filled. impotence.”

He expressed his belief that at the end of 2022 or the beginning of next year, the exchange rate may change to 1700 dinars per dollar in light of the current reality, and if oil prices relapse, and this is expected at the end of this year, things may get worse, especially since the Iraqi budget is inflating year after year. A year without any productivity.

Ninanews.com

Iraqi parliament to elect a new president on February 7

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi parliament’s newly-elected presidency on Thursday decided to hold a meeting on February 7 to elect a new president for the country, according to a statement from the legislature. Kurdistan Region’s two ruling parties continue their efforts to gain the support of Iraqi political parties for their candidates.

Iraq held snap parliamentary elections on October 10. The new members of the parliament were sworn in and they elected a new leadership for the legislature on January 9. The next phase is to elect a new president for the country by February 8, as per law.

Parliament’s new presidency held a meeting on Thursday and decided to announce the names of those presidential candidates who meet their requirements on Monday, adding that the election process will take place on February 7, according to the statement by the legislature.

The position has been held by Kurds for nearly two decades. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and its rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have fielded different candidates for the position, harming their relations.

The KDP has appointed Hoshiyar Zebari, who has served as Iraq’s foreign minister and finance minister in the past, and the PUK has fielded Barham Salih, the incumbent president of the country.

Both parties are holding meetings with Iraqi political parties to gain support for their candidates, with officials from both sides already claiming victory.

The new president will task the candidate of the largest parliamentary alliance to form a new cabinet.

PUK Co-chair Bafel Talabani met with Hadi al-Amiri, leader of Fatih Coalition, in Baghdad on Thursday.

According to a statement from Amiri’s office, the leader told Talabani that the PUK and KDP have to resolve their issues regarding the position of Iraqi presidency, adding that “the continuation of this difference will reflect in Iraq.”

Rudaw.net

Al-Yasiri: Al-Sadr nominated Al-Kazemi as prime minister for the majority government

Iraqakhbar.com

Oil prices hit $90 a barrel

Mawazine News – Oil prices recorded, on Wednesday, their highest level in more than 7 years, with high demand and a decline in stocks.

Oil prices fluctuate around $90, equivalent to 79 euros per barrel, which represents a repetition of the 2014 scenario due to increased demand and reduced concerns about the strength and continuity of the economic impact of the Omicron mutator from the Corona virus.

Last week, the price of Brent crude, during Wednesday’s trading, breached the $88 barrier for the first time in seven years, which also represents a visit estimated at more than a quarter of the prices that were recorded after the emergence of the new “Covid” mutator, while the price of West Texas Intermediate crude approached the threshold of $86 a barrel.

Mawazin.net

Al-Sadr arrives in Baghdad

Shafaq News / An informed political source said that the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, arrived on Wednesday evening to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, to discuss with the political forces to form the next government.

The source told Shafaq News Agency, “Al-Sadr arrived in Baghdad to hold dialogues with a number of political forces, including the coordination framework on forming the new government.”

The visit comes hours after the issuance of a statement by the coordination framework in which it warned against the policy of exclusion of political forces from participating in the next government, hinting that this matter might push him to go to the opposition or boycott.

Al-Sadr, whose list topped the elections, had said in a televised statement, yesterday, Tuesday, that he offered the Coordinating Framework Forces to enter into a national majority government on the condition that the leader of the State of Law coalition, Nuri al-Maliki, did not participate, but they refused.

Al-Sadr blames Al-Maliki, who headed the government for two consecutive terms (2006-2014), for rampant corruption and acts of violence in the country, in addition to the ISIS invasion of a third of Iraq in the summer of 2014.

The Sadrist bloc topped the October 10 elections, with 73 seats, followed by the Progress Alliance with 37, the State of Law coalition with 33, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party with 31.

Al-Sadr seeks to form a national majority government, unlike the rest of the coordinating framework forces, which demand a consensual government in which all political forces in Parliament participate, similar to previous sessions.

Shafaq.com

The Coordinating Framework Supports Barham Salih To The Position Of POR

Earth News / The Coordination Framework expressed its full support for the candidate of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan for the presidency of the Republic, Barham Salih, according to a source from within the framework.

The source told Earth News: “The candidate of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Barham Salih, is the option supported by the majority of the framework forces to renew his second term for the presidency.”

The source indicated that “the selection of Saleh will be decided in the coming hours, and he will be the most prominent candidate for the presidency after the framework forces agreed to vote for him.”

Differences intensified between the two Kurdish Democratic parties and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan over the presidential candidate, and the two parties entered into a war of statements and statements, as the Union insisted on the nomination of Barham Salih for the presidency and announced this officially during a meeting of his leadership council, while the Democrat nominated Hoshyar Zebari for the position before the Union accused him of forming alliances In Baghdad, it is not in favor of the political process.

Earthiq.news

Building bonds

We have often referred to the importance of employing the hoarded monetary mass in dealing with the financial crises that the country has witnessed, and we have repeated in more than one article the possibility of directing this employment in directions aimed at revitalizing the market movement and getting out of the successive cases of downturn that the local markets witnessed during the successive financial crises that followed the country after the year 2014 following the entry of terrorism and the escalation of the need for spending in order to finance the war machine and the logistical effort in conjunction with the drop in oil prices, and then the urgent need to finance the construction and reconstruction machine in the provinces affected by terrorism, and the subsequent stages that were crowned by the Corona pandemic with a global closure that led to economic stagnation and a decline in The rates of global trade movement, which caused a drop in oil prices again, as well as a clear depression in the movement of local markets due to the depreciation of the currency exchange rate local.

Now with the rise in oil prices, whose revenues can be scientifically employed according to a national program to advance the macroeconomic scene, the indebtedness file can be addressed and foreign debts that can confiscate the Iraqi national decision can be confiscated in the context of creditors’ requirements, at a time when other available financial tools can be employed. , and this was demonstrated through the launch of building bonds, which is a wonderful idea to move the hoarded cash mass, which the Central Bank estimates at about 70 percent of the issued cash amounting to 44 trillion Iraqi dinars.

Bonds are debt instruments that governments and companies resort to to finance their projects, as these bonds are issued as securities of a certain value, so that the bond owner is a creditor to the issuer of the bond, in return for a financial return in a specific period of time, and this method is one of the investment vessels to collect a certain amount with the aim of financing a project What, in what can this method be employed in the case witnessed by the Iraqi financial market, which suffers from the decline of the monetary mass from the banking circulation arena, as only 30% of the issued monetary mass moves, which is a major imbalance in the monetary and financial system, so the bonds here are a tool From the toolkit to withdraw the chunky cash block.

The success of the bond issuance experience will not only contribute to the movement of hoarded funds, but will also contribute to strengthening the state of trust between the banking sector and the public, in addition to devoting a culture of savings and spreading banking awareness. The exchange rate, to refute what is said in this regard, and to encourage the public to trade and exchange.

Alsabaah.iq

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq sponsors the celebration of the Basra branch on the occasion of its founding anniversary

Monday, His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Mr. Mustafa Ghaleb Mukhif, sponsored the celebration held by the Central Bank branch in Basra on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of its founding.

The celebration was attended by the Governor of Basra, Mr. Asaad Al-Eidani, and a number of stakeholders in the banking and financial sector in the province.

His Excellency said in his speech during the celebration, “Basra governorate represents the economic lung of Iraq and constitutes an important population and commercial weight, in addition to its historical position, and this is what calls us to strengthen the work of the banking sector in it.” He added, “The development initiatives of the Central Bank have contributed to supporting and establishing projects in southern Iraq, and have positively impacted the economy in these governorates through the creation of new jobs and the expansion of local industry.” His Excellency briefed the Governor on the procedures for the progress of work for the sections of the bank’s branch in Basra.

He praised the “efforts made by the branch’s management and employees”.

Central Bank of Iraq
information Office
January 24, 2022

Cbi.iq/news/

Al-Sadr and Barzani discuss political developments and unify the national ranks

Baghdad / Obelisk: The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, and the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Massoud Barzani, discussed the political developments and national unification.

In a statement received by Al-Masala, Al-Sadr’s office said that Al-Sadr had received a phone call from Massoud Barzani.

He added that during the call, the most important issues related to political developments in Iraq and the need to unify the national ranks at the current stage were discussed to serve the interests of Iraq and its people.

Almasalah.com

BGG ~ Some key points:

1) It was just a phone call…

2) Barzani had to call Sadr…

3) Sadr probably does need the Kurds…

4) but he is making Barzani come crawling… (also – Barzani, “the elder”, probably shouldn’t look for much in the way of concessions).

Iraqi banks call for activating the initiative of the CBI for lending in Kurdistan

Shafaq News/ The head of the Iraqi Private Banks Association called, on Tuesday, to activate the initiative of the Central Bank of Iraq to lend in the Kurdistan Region.

The association’s media said, in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, that the head of the Association of Iraqi Private Banks, Wadih Al-Handal, visited with his accompanying delegation the Tourism Authority in the Kurdistan Region, and he was received by the President of the Tourism Authority, Amal Jalal, the advanced staff in the authority and the Director General of the Tourism Department in Dohuk Khairy.

Ali, indicating that during the meeting, joint cooperation and ways to activate the tourism sector in the Kurdistan Region were discussed.

Al-Handal indicated, according to the statement, the necessity of activating the initiative of the Central Bank of Iraq in lending small, medium and large tourism projects, which receives full sponsorship and support by the Association as it is implemented by Iraqi private banks, including banks established in the region.

Al-Handal also presented a brief idea of ​​the broad support programs provided by the Tamkeen Fund (which is managed under the umbrella of the Central Bank of Iraq with the active participation of the Association as it is funded by Iraqi private banks), with a focus on grants provided for the reconstruction of religious and cultural centers in various parts of Iraq, the latest of which is Reviving Al-Mutanabi Street, as well as restoring the Lalish Center for the Yazidi community in Kurdistan.

Al-Handal indicated that the association is studying a project that will be presented to the Tamkeen Fund to establish a civilizational and cultural center to be held in the historic Erbil Citadel.

For her part, Amal Jalal welcomed this visit to the head of the Association of Banks and Joint Cooperation between the two parties, and presented an idea of ​​her continuous efforts to develop the tourism sector, which she has made since assuming the responsibility of the authority until now, and she has a strong orientation towards training human cadres in the authority and creating a tourism culture in the community, and pointed out that An ambitious program towards taking care of the many cultural and religious centers in the Kurdistan Region.

Shafaq.com