The Central Bank announces the formation of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Council

{Baghdad: Al Furat News} The Council of Ministers announced the approval of the third annual report of the Council for Combating Money Laundering and Financing Terrorism, in the presence of (Chairman of the Council – Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq).

The Cabinet called for “the Office of Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing to continue to take the necessary measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, in coordination with the supervisory authorities.”

The Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Council was formed according to Law No. 39 of 2015, which is chaired by the Governor of the Central Bank and the membership of a number of ministries and agencies not associated with a ministry.

Alforatnews.com/news/

Kurdistan Finance Minister: 30% of the banking system is now electronic

Economy News – The Minister of Finance and Economy in the Kurdistan Region, Awat Sheikh Janab, announced the transformation of 30% of the banking system in the region to the electronic system.

Sheikh Janab said, during his participation in the second day of the conference of the chambers of commerce of America and the Kurdistan Region, which was held under the title “The priorities of the economy of the Kurdistan Region after Corona”, “We made the economic system electronic.”

He added, “We have worked to remove obstacles to investment, and we pay great attention to the banking sector.”

In turn, the head of the Investment Authority in the region, Muhammad Shukri, said, during his participation in the conference, that “the investment law includes good guarantees for investors.”

He explained, “Domestic and foreign investments are equal before the law,” stressing that “a foreign investor can transfer 100% of his profits abroad.”

Economy-news.net

Plasschaert: We await the implementation of the Kazemi correctional paper

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq, Jenin Blashart, confirmed, on Tuesday, THE ECONOMIC PAPER PRESENTED BY MUSTAFA AL- KAZEMI’S GOVERNMENT IS AWAITING IMPLEMENTATION, while noting that the religious authority, Ali al-Sistani stressed the importance of voting in the elections freely and without any pressure.

“In my last briefing to you, I mentioned that the government of Iraq has been working against multiple storms simultaneously from the start. I would like to emphasize that this is still largely the case,” Blashardt said in a briefing to the Security Council about the situation in Iraq. “Many interconnected crises on the political, security, economic, financial and social fronts, and of course, health.”

She added, “The financial and economic situation in Iraq is still worrying, at the very least. The economy is expected to contract by about 10% this year, and the impact of the Corona virus has caused more chaos in the already very weak private sector activity, and oil prices continue their prolonged stagnation. Constitutes downward pressure on the gross domestic product and domestic revenues.

She noted, “In mid-October, the long-awaited economic white paper was issued. This important document provides a very useful overview of the structural imbalances that characterize the economy and without broad political consensus to turn the document into reality, it will only be words on the paper.” She pointed out, “The drop in levels of violence in Iraq is greatly encouraging,” indicating that “the supreme authority, Sistani, stressed the importance of voting freely in the elections without any pressure.”

She indicated, “With regard to relations between Baghdad and Erbil, we will all agree on the existence of a positive and constructive relationship between federalism in Iraq, which is the key to the stability of the whole country.”

She explained, “The centrality of Iraq in building regional stability is real, and it is worth repeating that, and it must be protected from competition from foreign powers, and Iraqis must be given a space to focus on their strength at home,” stressing that “the leadership of Iraq continues to assert its independence and sovereignty, and seeks To keep all communication channels open because it adopts a foreign policy that serves the Iraqi national interest.

Plasschaert welcomed the “decrease in attacks on diplomatic missions.” “While we fully understand that the Iraqi authorities are working under tremendous time pressure, it must be clear that closing the camps should not lead to another crisis, for example in the form of secondary displacement, which is already happening in Iraq.”

Mawazin.net

PM Barzani Encourages US Companies to Invest in Kurdistan

ERBIL – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has encouraged the US companies to start investing in the autonomous region, reaffirming that the regional government welcomes international investment in all the sectors of its economy.

Barzani made the remarks during a virtual conference on Post COVID-19 Economic Priorities in the Kurdistan Region, on Monday, sponsored by the US Chamber of Commerce, which aimed at encouraging foreign investment in the Kurdistan Region, particularly from US companies, with the participation of high-level officials from, the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, and the United States.

“We are working hard to diversify our economy, through privatization of parts of agriculture and electricity sectors. We are making it easier to do business by digitising important aspects of our government,” the Kurdish premier said.

“I am pleased to announce recent progress @SecBrouillette and I have made on a number of fronts in this sector to unlock greater US investment. We welcome international investment in all sectors of our economy.”

Barzani further noted that his cabinet is also working on reducing the”red tape to ensure that foreign investors are able to complete the necessary procedures more quickly and more easily — from company registrations to visa regulations and permits.”

He also revealed that the KRG expects to sign a “major” deal this week that will be the foundation of its digital transformation agenda to bring the public and government services to the fingerprints of citizens, businesses, and government bodies.

“We have a young, dynamic and highly educated workforce. Our young people are digitally literate and innovative. My goal is not only to give our people much-needed jobs but to provide them the tools necessary to unlock their entrepreneurial spirit,” he continued.

The prime minister explained that the investment of US companies in the Kurdistan Region is in the public interest, adding that “we are working on developing the agricultural, industrial, and commercial sectors, and we intend to use technology in the agricultural sector.”

The Kurdish leader, in the meantime, hoped that Erbil and Washington will also improve cooperations in the fields of economy, energy, health, education, and culture in 2021.
The Kurdistan Region is a very good gateway for US investors, which also makes it a great gateway to Iraq and the Middle East, Barzani added.

The premier additionally reviewed a number of projects completed in the midst of crises, and said that his government is proud to construct many bridges and highways through the partnership between the private and public sectors, despite the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

He further addressed foreign investors and said: “I hope that you will take this opportunity to visit the Kurdistan Region and see for yourself the changes made by the ninth ministerial formation.”

Basnews.com

On behalf of Iraqis: The currency auction threatens to bankrupt Iraq and must be stopped

{Baghdad: Al Furat News} The representative of the Iraqi coalition, Zahra Al-Bajari, considered the currency auction to the Central Bank of Iraq as a threat to bankrupt the country.

“The currency auction greatly affects the economic situation and the Iraqi economy in general, because this is a hard currency that goes out of Iraq,” Al-Bajari said.

She added, “The Financial Deficit Financing Law recently approved, referred to the window for selling the currency,” indicating that the law called on the Council of Ministers to automate the tax and customs system and import licenses and to link all units subject to tax and customs to an electronic system immediately, and to collect customs duties for imported goods on the basis of what It was sold from the foreign currency through the window of selling the currency or documentary credits to importers of goods, provided that the differences are settled after entering the imported goods and audited by the concerned authorities in order to prove that the imported materials are real in their purchase and with receipts and are located inside Iraq and there is no smuggling of currency and pressure on The Iraqi economy. ”

And called “the Economic Committee in Parliament to follow up this issue as it is at the core of its competence because this issue is very important to preserve the national economy and the existing currency because Iraq will declare bankruptcy due to borrowing and the daily currency auction.”

Al-Bajari demanded “to stop this auction because it affects the Iraqi economy greatly, and we will have a pause on this issue, especially as it is trading in the halls of parliament and among the MPs interested in it.”

And a member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, Kazem Al-Sayyadi, revealed yesterday, Monday, enormous money that had been smuggled by the corruption of the currency auction of the Central Bank of Iraq.

Al-Sayyadi told Al-Furat News that “the question of the head of the Parliamentary Wisdom Bloc, Faleh Al-Sari, to the Governor of the Central Bank was accurate; but unfortunately, the answer was inaccurate and vague and we noticed a favoritism for banks at the expense of the Iraqi people, behind which political forces stand to steal people’s money,” he said.
He added, “The governor was confused and unconnected in the answers, and we hosted him in the integrity committee. His answers were inaccurate, partial expressions, and inaccurate solutions that betrayed an uninformed personality.”

“The Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance are a crime that contains several crimes, including hiding the currency market and selling it to private banks,” Al-Sayyadi said, explaining, “The Central Bank allocates millions of dollars to private banks and when searching for their assets, we find that they are weak and not the amount of money allocated to them.”

Alforatnews.com

Parliamentary Finance reveals violations of the currency auction

{Baghdad: Al Furat News} The Finance Committee revealed, on Tuesday, interesting details about the violations of the currency auction.

The committee’s rapporteur, Ahmed Al-Saffar, said “to the Euphrates News} that” the currency window is one of the existing problems related to the central bank, in addition to other issues related to damaged money, the bank’s building, and other things. ”

He pointed out that “actually this window does not exist in any country other than Iraq, and the foreign currency {dollar} is sold to banks that benefit from the price difference,” revealing, “there are more than 60 numbers that are used and the profit goes to the banks.”

Al-Saffar added, “National banks provide unrealistic investments,” explaining, “If we calculate the customs tax revenues on the basis of the size of the dollar sold against the imposed import, the annual amounts are not less than 7 billion dollars.”

He added, “But in reality it is less than a billion and the beneficiaries are the banks.”
Al-Saffar called for “the necessity to find a solution to this window by linking it to the customs tax. The collection will be when selling the dollar, or transferring the currency to the Ministry of Finance, and it will be the only one who disposes of the oil selling dollars.”
The head of the Parliamentary Wisdom Bloc, Faleh Al-Sari, presented an oral question to the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Mustafa Ghaleb Al-Kitab.

Parliament, in turn, invited the governor of the bank to attend the session.

Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi announced in a session, on Monday, that Al-Sari fulfilled his oral question addressed to the Governor of the Central Bank after his answers were satisfied.

For his part, a member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, Kazem Al-Sayyadi, revealed, on Monday, enormous money smuggled by corruption of the currency auction of the Central Bank of Iraq.

Al-Sayyadi said in a statement {to Al-Furat News} that the question of the head of the Parliamentary Wisdom bloc, Faleh Al-Sari, to the Governor of the Central Bank was accurate; But unfortunately, the answer was inaccurate and vague, and we perceived a favoritism for the banks at the expense of the Iraqi people, behind which were political forces standing to steal the people’s money. According to him.

Alforatnews.com

Saudi Arabia affirms its keenness to expand the horizons of cooperation with Iraq

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia affirmed its keenness to expand the horizons of bilateral cooperation with Iraq ..

During the Saudi Cabinet session held under the chairmanship of King Salman, the Minister of Information Majed Al-Qasabi explained that the Kingdom is keen to expand the horizons of bilateral cooperation with Iraq and strengthen it in a way that serves common interests and mutual benefits Between the two countries and the two peoples in various fields.

Dijlah.tv

Al-Kazemi: The government is keen to facilitate all procedures for investors

Al Furat News: Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi said that “investment is our priority.”
Al-Kazemi stated that during the cabinet session, “the government is keen to facilitate all procedures for investors.”

Ammar Al-Masoudi

Alforatnews.com

Parliamentary Finance diagnoses the cause of corruption in the currency auction and identifies a proposal to eliminate it

{Baghdad “Al Furat News} The Parliamentary Finance Committee diagnosed, on Sunday, the cause of corruption in the currency auction, while it submitted a proposal to eliminate it.

“There are solutions to reduce corruption and not to end corruption, and there are treatments that can be invested in the interest of the Iraqi currency,” said a member of the committee, Ahmed Al-Hajj, in an interview with Al-Furat News.

He added that “the issue of selling the dollar by the central bank is supposed to take place by the Ministry of Finance, as it is the owner of the money from oil sales and others.”

He pointed out that “the existence of competition between remittance companies and banks and the distribution of which led to the currency auction being a window for corruption, and if we dealt with this issue, it will lead to the elimination of 60 percent of the corruption of currency sales.”

He explained that “among the treatments is the classification of private banks and linking the currency auction to the General Authority of Customs and the Registrar of Companies and Taxes, and thus we can eliminate 80 percent of corruption.”

Ali al-Rubaie

Alforatnews.com/news

The White Paper for Economic Reform aims to address the consequences of the crises that Iraq’s economy faced over decades, and empower young Iraqis to access good, sustainable jobs.

For more on the White Paper, click here:

https://t.co/onzNJXMTb5

#EconomicReform #WhitePaper

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