The story of the Iraqi currency – قصَّة العُمْلة العراقيَّة

Iraqis say they are better off without Soleimani

Iraq is better able to assert its independence and distance itself from Iranian interference that was undermining its sovereignty, experts say.

In the months since top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was killed, Iraqi politicians and analysts tell Diyaruna, they have observed a number of political and security changes that they view as positive for Iraq.

It has been just over three months since the former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force was killed in a January 3rd US airstrike in Baghdad.

Since Soleimani’s elimination, analysts said, Iraq now has greater opportunities to assert its independence and distance itself from the Iranian interference that was undermining its security and draining its resources.

“Iraq now has a great opportunity to dismantle the armed networks and mafias established by Soleimani over the past years,” Dijla Strategic Planning Centre researcher Hussein al-Safi told Diyaruna.

Over the years, these Iran-backed militias have “drained billions of dollars of Iraq’s wealth to serve Iranian projects in the region”, he said, noting that Iraq will be better able to assert its sovereignty as these militias weaken.

Soleimani’s elimination came at a time when the Iraqi people were taking to the street to demonstrate against government corruption and the outsized influence and interference of Iran in their country, he noted.

“This turned the Iraqi street into a key player on the political scene that is putting pressure on the political forces,” he said. “In view of that, it can be said that Iraq is undergoing a number of positive changes.”

An opportunity for change

Now that Soleimani is gone, there is an opportunity for change, al-Safi said.

Soleimani was one of the main forces behind the drain of Iraqi wealth, he said, and he oversaw the formation of dozens of militias, financed with Iraqi funds.

“His absence today is a great opportunity to put forward a more pluralistic political scene, because he undermined every civil or nationalistic political movement that he saw as posing a danger,” al-Safi said.

It can be said that this era has ended, he added, and that Iran is incapable of bringing in a replacement to do what Soleimani did.

In the political arena, there are new voices in parliament that are beginning to speak independently of the heads of blocs known for their ties to Iran, he noted.

“Iraq is without question better off now,” Mustaqbal party president and former Iraqi MP Entifadh Qanbar told Diyaruna.

“US forces gave Iraqis a tremendous gift by eliminating this terrorist [Soleimani], who until the last hour of his life continued to destroy the democratic process in Iraq and drain its wealth,” he said.

Through his support of Lebanese Hizbullah and militias in Iraq and Syria, Soleimani “posed a threat to civil peace in Iraq”, Qanbar said, “so eliminating him was akin to opening a new window to a better tomorrow for Iraq”.

No replacement for Soleimani

“Three months after Soleimani’s death, the Iranians are still unable to find a replacement for him,” National Salvation Front leader and former Ninawa governor Atheel al-Nujaifi told Diyaruna.

“What exacerbates the predicament for Iran is that the financial support it was providing to the militias loyal to it has declined significantly, which has led to clear disarray among the members of those armed factions,” he said.

“The months-long demonstrations in Iraq reflected much of what is in the hearts of Iraqis, most significantly that they reject Iranian tutelage and interference,” he said, adding that Soleimani understood this before his death.

Iraqi political affairs researcher Ahmad al-Hamdani told Diyaruna that Iraq has witnessed “remarkable changes since Soleimani’s demise”.

“At the political level, despite the fact that there is a crisis over the government’s formation, it is notable that Iran has for several months been unable to impose its will or its opinion,” he said.

“There are MPs and blocs whose voices are growing louder and more nationalistic,” al-Hamdani said.

“Even the decision to close the border with Iran, as part of the measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, was one of the increasingly more independent decisions being made by Iraqi authorities,” he noted.

Iraqi nationalism on display

Border crossings and trade were key issues to Soleimani, and his insistence that Iraq keep importing goods from Iran, ensuring Iran’s access to hard currency, impeded the growth of Iraqi industry and agriculture, al-Hamdani said.

Regarding the general security situation in Iraq, the militias Soleimani founded have become “more fragmented” and are competing among themselves for influence and interests, he said.

Without Soleimani, these militias are “weakened and in disarray”, he said.

The mood on the Iraqi street is that people no longer want to see any force other than the army and police forces enforcing security, he said.

The Iraqi street views these armed groups as having no loyalty to Iraq and as “nothing more than arms or even tails that implement and serve Iranian interests”, he added.

“So the answer to the question of whether Iraq is better off after Soleimani’s elimination is a definite yes,” al-Hamdani said.

“His elimination has created intense fear among the militia leaders who worked under his command that they will meet a similar fate as their leader,” he said.

Diyaruna.com

Parliamentary sources: The blocs help Al-Kazemi to facilitate his mission and his government A mixture of independents and politicians from the second line

[Baghdad-Ain] In charge of steady steps towards completing the ministerial cabinet as quickly as possible, Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kazimi is progressing, amid aid provided by all political blocs to complete what they agreed to agree to accomplish his mission.

The leaks indicate that the dialogues and stages of completing the cabinet and the government program are not facing obstacles yet, while various political forces have confirmed the completion of Al-Kazemi’s mission within a few days.

The deputy of the Alliance of Raiders Riyad Al-Masoudi said in press statements that “Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Al-Kazemi is still in the stage of dialogue and discussion with the political blocs regarding the formation of the ministerial cabinet, but the stage of dialogue may not be longer than 3 days.

Al-Masoudi added that “the taxpayer will present his vision and method of forming the government to the political forces and will see the vision of the rest of the heads of the blocs,” suggesting that “the stage of dialogue will end within two to three days.” He ruled out “choosing political ministers in the composition of the new cabinet.”

For his part, the head of the Parliamentary Bloc of Al-Fath, Muhammad al-Ghabban, revealed the formation of an advisory group representing the political blocs to provide assistance and advice to the person in charge of forming the government Mustafa al-Kazemi in studying the names of the cabinet and the government curriculum.

Al-Ghabban said in press statements that “the political blocs agreed to form an advisory team that grants the authority to select the taxpayer in order to accelerate the acquisition of the cabinet cabinet names and study their résumés to ensure the success of the special session and give them confidence and not to repeat what happened with Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi.”

Al-Ghabban added that “Al-Kazemi’s booth will include a mixture of independents and politicians who are not from the first line and have a vision in running the country while observing the criteria of integrity and competence in selection.” Indicating that “the political blocs are keen to give confidence to the Al-Kazemi government before the blessed month of Ramadan, taking into account the situation The current situation and the difficulty of holding a session after this date. ”

Al-Ghabban affirmed, “Agreement with Al-Kazemi to hold elections no later than one year, while creating all appropriate conditions in a manner that guarantees their fairness and transparency.”

Alliraqnews.com

Economist: Resorting to the private sector is a better option to get rid of the current financial crisis

Economist Wissam Al-Tamimi warned, on Wednesday, against continuing to rely on oil to finance the budget, stressing the need to resort to the private sector to invest in government projects according to agreed time periods.

Al-Tamimi said in a statement to / Information /, that “the government can agree with the private sector to grant investment projects according to agreed periods of time with the state obtaining specific percentages of the amounts obtained by the private sector from those projects.”

He added that “relying on oil to finance the budget is more like a ticking bomb, as the oil market is unstable and is subject to international paradoxes and global agreements and therefore is governed by state policy and cannot be predicted for its future.”

He pointed out that “many developed countries were not oil and depend on financing their budgets on investment, the housing sector, tourism, border ports and taxes,” stressing the need to “reduce the salaries of employees whose salaries exceed 2 million dinars and in certain proportions to ensure financing new job grades launched by the government and did not find Sources of financing it after the drop in oil prices.

Almaalomah.com

Parliamentary Finance: The bank’s reserves will be used to secure employees’ salaries until the end of 2020

The Parliamentary Finance Committee announced, on Tuesday, the use of the reserves of the Central Bank of Iraq to secure the salaries of state employees until the end of this year.

Member of the Finance Committee Shirvan Mirza told / “The information” that “securing the salaries of state employees until the end of this year according to low oil prices and without loans is an extremely difficult issue facing the current or transitional government that will be formed.”

He added that “the credit will be relied on by the Central Bank of Iraq to secure the salaries until December 2020”, noting that “the accreditation will be in accordance with regulations determined by the Council of Ministers, including insurance of salaries only without any additional allocations, projects or other exchange funds for ministries.”

Almaalomah.com

U.S. welcomes apparent consensus on forming a government in Iraq: Pompeo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that his country welcomes an apparent agreement among Iraq’s Shia, Sunni and Kurdish groups to form a new government, adding it would need to be capable of confronting the coronavirus pandemic, helping the economy and bringing arms under control.

“We welcome that Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish political leaders seem to have arrived at a consensus on government formation, and hope the new government puts Iraq’s interests first and meets the needs of the Iraqi people,” Pompeo said in a statement.

Reuters.com

A parliamentary source: Al-Kazemi will submit a request to convene parliament next Tuesday

Information / Baghdad .. A representative source said, on Wednesday, that the Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Al-Kazemi will submit a request next Tuesday to Parliament requesting a session to vote on his government.

The source said in a statement to “Information”, that “the meeting of Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Al-Kazemi at the home of the President of the Alliance of Al-Fath Hadi al-Amiri, which included the leaders of the Shiite political blocs, outlined to Al-Kazemi the broad lines of the political program for the transitional period and thus ended the debate over whether to pass the government or not.”

The source added, “Al-Kazemi will present to parliament an integrated and incomplete government,” noting that “the assigned president will submit a request next Tuesday to parliament for the voting session, where the request will include the ministerial program and the names of the ministerial cabinet .” Ended in / 25 pm

Almaalomah.com

The Iraqi dinar is falling apart: Corruption and Corona are jumping in dollars

The turmoil in the Iraqi dinar exchange rate against the dollar recently led to negative effects, which directly affected the business sector and commodities in the markets, which led to the loss of confidence of dealers and investors in the monetary authority.

The decline of the dinar came after the Central Bank of Iraq stopped its activities related to pumping liquidity in foreign exchange to meet the needs of banks and their customers, as it was pumping an average of 140 million dollars or more per day to maintain the value of the currency and support its stability, and stopping the pumping of liquidity led to a jump in the exchange rate of one dollar from 1200 to 1280 Iraqi dinars, amid warnings of the continuation of this rise due to the curfew imposed by the authorities as part of the procedures to face the outbreak of the Corona epidemic.

In the midst of the financial crisis experienced by the world in general and Iraq in particular in light of the collapse of oil prices and the large deficit in the budget for 2020, the government faces great economic challenges, most notably the difficulty that the central bank can maintain the value of the dinar against the dollar because of the corrupt control of the auction of selling currency, according to What officials and economists see.

In an interview with “The New Arab,” an official in the caretaker government said that “the central bank cannot maintain the value of the Iraqi dinar against the dollar by continuing to pump the hard currency to the market, because of the lack of public revenues due to weak demand for oil and the decline in its price.” That “the central bank will have to legalize the sale of the currency for a certain period until oil prices rise again.”

And Iraq, the second largest producer of crude oil in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with an average daily production of 4.5 million barrels per day.

The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, added that “continuing to hold auctions to sell currency and pump tens of millions of dollars per day to preserve the value of the dinar leads to great risks for the country’s economy, and it is better for the central bank to cancel the currency auction and install its local currency, since most of the beneficiaries are Of these auctions are not businessmen and merchants, but banks, banks and private sector companies dominating the market, a large part of which has been transferred out of Iraq.

He pointed out that the central bank has succeeded in recent years in achieving the stability of the dinar exchange rate and improving it in relation to the dollar and other currencies by stabilizing the price of the local currency and defending it, but the current collapse in oil prices, and consequently, the country’s financial returns are completely different from the crises of past years.

According to the official, “There are daily discussions to reach a road map that enables the country to maintain an acceptable exchange secret of the dinar against the dollar.”

The central bank sells between 140 and 160 million dollars to public and private companies and banks, as part of a plan adopted since 2004 to control the exchange rate of the dinar and prevent its collapse in the market. The central bank only allows companies and limited banks to enter the auction and buy dollars, amounting to less than 50 banks and financial companies that are licensed by the central bank, all of which are private or private.

For his part, Professor of International Economic Relations at the Iraqi University, Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani, said in an interview with “The New Arab” that “canceling the currency auction is very difficult, because the goal of the currency window is to finance imports in the private sector.”

According to Al-Mashhadani, 90% of the country’s consumer needs are secured by import by the private sector, which means that canceling the currency auction will lead to a major disruption in the prices of imported goods.

Al-Mashhadani stressed that “the currency auction is a drain on foreign exchange due to its association with prominent political figures,” pointing out that 15% of Central Bank sales through the auction go as money laundering in various ways and methods and are transferred outside of Iraq.
He pointed out that the best way for the central bank to follow is to legalize the sale of hard currency as much as possible to maintain the value of the dinar and foreign exchange reserves.

For its part, Ayat Muzaffar, a member of the Iraqi parliament from the “victory” coalition led by former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, attributed the causes of the economic collapse and the value of the dinar against the dollar to the wrong financial policies pursued by the Adel Abdul-Mahdi government.

Muzaffar said, in an interview with the “New Arab”, that “bad management and fiscal policy floundering the head of the caretaker government, Adel Abdul Mahdi, and its indiscriminate spending on the state budget, is one of the main reasons that led to the economic collapse of Iraq, and to an unprecedented financial deficit is expected to It is, if oil prices continue to decline, about 80 trillion dinars.

She explained a member of the Iraqi parliament that the central bank spent a large part of the cash reserve for the purpose of stabilizing the dinar price against the dollar, which led to the depletion of the cash reserve, and then the central bank will lose over time its ability to maintain the par value of the dinar.

She added that “the government’s flop seemed clear when the head of the crisis cell talked about the possibility of Iraq resorting to printing the currency.” An easy amount until there are surplus sums that increase the demand for goods and services so that the producers increase the production.

As for the other reason, according to Muzaffar, the printed currency must be equal to the national product, while stressing the need to preserve the monetary reserve of the central bank through its reliance on a flexible policy that takes into account the emerging political and economic conditions of the country.

And at the end of last March, the rapporteur of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Ahmed Al-Saffar, said that “the central bank reserves reached 87 billion dollars, and it does not include cash and foreign currency only, but it includes gold bars.”

Rawabetcenter.com

Masroor Barzani announces his support for Al-Kazemi by phone

Shafaq News / The President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masroor Barzani, today, Thursday, called the Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Al-Kazemi.

During the phone call, the Prime Minister expressed his support for Al-Kazemi to work together with a view to resolving all outstanding issues between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government under the constitution.

On Thursday, Iraqi President Barham Salih commissioned the head of the Intelligence Agency, Mustafa al-Kazemi, to form the new Iraqi government, after Adnan al-Zorfi announced he was stepping down from this task.

Al-Kazemi has a 30-day deadline beginning April 9 to paralyze the new government that Muhammad Allawi and Adnan al-Zarfi failed.

Al-Zrafi considered his apology for continuing to commission due to “preserving the unity and supreme interests of Iraq.”

Al-Zorfi’s failure to form the government came after Shi’ite and Sunni forces agreed, as well as the Kurdistan region, to nominate the head of the intelligence service, Mustafa al-Kazemi, to form the next government.

The Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, and the Iraqi Forces Alliance led by Parliament Speaker Muhammad Al-Halbousi and the National Alliance led by Iyad Allawi announced Minister Al-Kazemi to succeed the resigned Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi.

Al-Kazemi said in his first statement after the commissioning, “With my assignment to the task of heading the Iraqi government, I pledge before my honorable people, to work to form a government that puts the aspirations and demands of the Iraqis at the top of its priorities, and safeguards the sovereignty of the country, preserves rights, works to solve crises, and pushes the economy forward “.

Shafaaq.com

Speech of the President of the Republic during his assignment of Al-Kazemi to form a government

Baghdad today – Today, Thursday, Baghdad will publish the full text of the President of the Republic Barham Salih’s mandate, during the mandate of the head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, Mustafa al-Kazemi, to form the new government.

The text of the speech as it was received from the President’s media office:

“In the name of of Allah the Merciful

“Believers are brothers, so reconcile between your two brothers and fear God, so that you may have mercy.”

Great truth of God

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the Peace Palace on this important day in the history of our country. Firstly, I say that we are meeting and our country is going through difficult circumstances and challenges and we highly appreciate the brave resistance of the Iraqi families to the Corona virus, and we highly appreciate the difficulties that you endure in the midst of a ban Roaming and sanitary isolation, I salute with you in particular the men and women who are at the forefront in front of us all in the fight against this epidemic, the health cadre of doctors, experts, nurses, service personnel and all workers in the health departments and hospitals, their noble role will not be forgotten by the Iraqis, their heroic struggle and their sacrifices are an honor for us and they have a passion Their noble families and their country. These are the owners of Urdu and white hearts who are our eyes and they give us all respect and appreciation. Iraqis appreciate that the best that can be provided to them is their support and commitment to their directions.

This is also the day we meet where important historical events happen in Iraq, this day commemorates the martyrdom of the martyr al-Sadr (may God sanctify his secret) and today the memory of the jihad fatwa for the sake of resisting ISIS, which diverted the course of events and helped defeat ISIS and advance our country from the gravity that was staring at us. Today, too, is the memory of the idol’s fall, the end of the Anfal dictatorship, the mass graves, discrimination, persecution and terrorism.

The Iraqis on this day seventeen years ago were expecting a free and dignified life and a stable and prosperous country, for various reasons that interfered with and interfered with, political shortcomings, quotas, conflicts and contradictions with terrorism and interventions that prevented Iraqis from enjoying this simple right to a free and dignified life.

We meet today and in the presence of this honorable gathering and witness a constitutional and democratic transformation in our country. The past period was a difficult period in the history of Iraq, we lived, coexisted, and dealt with. We faced the mass popular protests that were calling for reforms and correcting the path in our country, and many and many political matters took place in this country and in the heart of the East Al-Sharq Al-Awsat was a handover of power and the resignation of the government of Mr. Adel Abdul-Mahdi, and other dear brothers were appointed within known constitutional contexts. The parties committed themselves regardless of the debates and discussions to these procedures. This is an important achievement and an important appreciation. I am not about to justify that we have wasted a long time and the Iraqi people are waiting for us a lot and a lot, and we had to move forward in forming a government sooner, but this is our reality. We committed ourselves to these contexts and today we are witnessing a new situation. Professor Adnan Al-Zarfi apologized for assigning him to form The government and sent us an official message in this regard, and today I want to thank Brother Al-Zarfi for his commitment and appreciation for the national interest and his courageous stances in these circumstances. I spoke to him a little while ago and assured me of his support for the process path and what secures the unity of the Iraqi class so I thank him and appreciate him for this position.

Today we are in the process of assigning Brother Mustafa Al-Kazemi to form the new government in Iraq, and Brother Al-Kazemi is a militant and educated figure known for his integrity and known for moderation and known for his concern for the general rights of Iraqis.

This is a great responsibility that will be assigned to my brother, Professor Mustafa Al-Kazemi. We wish him all the best in this endeavor, but I also want to stand on an important fact. The last period was accompanied by controversies and sharp differences between us and the political parties.

Today, thanks to God and with the efforts of the sincere, the main political forces agreed and the national and social forces agreed to choose Brother Mustafa Al-Kazemi for this position, as the fact that it was a witnessed day that we passed a stage that was difficult for all of us and the political system was subject to constant skepticism and questioning. I do not want to go into details but the lesson in what happened, Today we meet in the Peace Palace in the presence of these generous faces that represent the Iraqi political spectrum and everyone is keen to form a national government based on an Iraqi national decision and adheres to the reform program sought by the Iraqi citizen who is waiting for us to fulfill his rights to a free and dignified life.

God was in the help of Brother Mustafa Al-Kazemi, a difficult task, and everyone here will no doubt be helping you and you will be a help to this country. We finish this period to proceed to fair elections that give the Iraqi citizen the right to choose his government through honest and sincere elections and also works to remedy the consequences of these The serious health crisis afflicting our country, as well as the financial and economic repercussions of this situation. All of this is taking place and an important concept for our country is to preserve and strengthen the state, a capable and sovereign state based on an Iraqi national decision.

I have the honor to present the assignment book and wish you all the best.

Baghdadtoday.news