Iraq: There is no alternative to the Al-Sadr and Al-Maliki agreement to resolve the position of Prime Minister, and Al-Kazemi’s chances are strong as a settlement candidate

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Iraq: There is no alternative to the Al-Sadr and Al-Maliki agreement to resolve the position of Prime Minister, and Al-Kazemi’s chances are strong as a settlement candidate

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Deep disagreement between the opponents and the Sadrist bloc: a national or consensual government?

Baghdad – “Al-Quds Al-Arabi”: Iraqi political circles are awaiting the announcement of the Independent High Commission, the “final” results of last October’s elections, to proceed with “serious” dialogues leading to the formation of the largest parliamentary bloc in the new “Parliament”, which paves the way for The path towards choosing a prime minister and a new ministerial cabinet, amid a marked tension in the relationship between the “objecting” and “winning” political forces, which portends new escalatory options, unless the Shiite parties in particular reach a new consensus.
The Iraqi political forces have been working since 2003 on the principle of “quotas” or what is constitutionally called “balance” in determining the three presidencies, as Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds measure the three main positions in the country (the presidency of the government for the Shiites), (the presidency of the republic for the Kurds) and (the presidency of the parliament for the Sunnis). as a political norm.
In the first years prior to 2003, Iraq did not witness “complicated” political crises in the selection of these positions, when the Shiite house was united by the “National Alliance,” the Sunnis with the “National List” and the Kurdish with the “Kurdistan Alliance.” However, things began to take another turn after the fragmentation Those alliances, and the divisions that wracked them.
The winning political forces in the October 2021 elections are awaiting what will happen to the Shiite house, to start negotiations to resolve “quotas” in the new government and parliament.
On this basis, Shiite politicians are preoccupied with finding a legal or political solution to the crisis left by the results of the recent elections, and the Sadrist movement, led by Muqtada al-Sadr, obtaining the highest parliamentary seats (more than 70 seats), while other Shiite political forces, affiliated with the “framework,” have not obtained The Coordinating Committee, which includes the “Al-Fatah” coalition led by Hadi al-Amiri, the leaders of the armed Shiite factions, in addition to the leader of the “State of Law” coalition led by Nuri al-Maliki, won (more than 50 seats), according to the “semi-final” results.
The most likely scenario for the “Sadr bloc” is an alliance with the “Progress” alliance led by the outgoing Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad al-Halbousi, (about 40 seats) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Massoud Barzani (more than 30 seats) to ensure a parliamentary majority that qualifies him to nominate a prime minister. And a new government.
On the other hand, the political forces affiliated with the “Coordination Ghattar” took the step of protesting and holding a sit-in in front of the gates of the Green Zone, to pressure the government and the commission, by adopting the manual counting and sorting of votes, and not relying on the announced electronic results.
This step quickly turned into clashes between the security forces and the protesters – the majority of Shiite forces – that led to the death and injury of more than 100 protesters and security forces.
The rapid development of events prompted a meeting of the “framework” forces with the presidents of the republic and government (Barham Salih and Mustafa Al-Kazemi) to remedy the crisis, and to come up with a set of recommendations, most notably the “calm down” and de-escalation.
Observers of Iraqi political affairs are talking about the possibility of resolving the stifling political crisis by granting the forces of the “coordinating framework” positions in the new government, as well as not holding them accountable in the next stage.
In this regard, writer and political analyst, Ali Al-Baydar, told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that “the losing Shiite political forces in last October’s elections may resort to escalation or attempt to thwart any step towards forming the new government, without its presence or presence.”
He added: “These forces are pressing for guarantees that they will not be held accountable in the next stage, in the event that (Shiite political forces) resort to the opposition, although this is unlikely.”
Al-Baydar believes that “everyone can go to the option of a settlement, by granting these parties positions or influence within the new government, by creating ministerial portfolios in the next cabinet and returning ministries that were previously merged or canceled,” but he warned against going to “ministerial slack in order to satisfy These parties, and this is a shame in the right of the reform trend that they hope to achieve, in addition to the fact that it will completely lose confidence in the political system.”
He also pointed out that “this political force will not escalate further if it obtains guarantees to give it the formal seats in the new government,” considering at the same time that “the attempt to assassinate Al-Kazemi (last Sunday) and the reaction of the Iraqi, regional and international communities denounced it made many parties fear an escalation, Perhaps it will surrender without being in the government.”
On the other hand, the Coordination Framework forces refuse to grant them parliamentary seats as a “gift or charity.” Rather, they want to audit the election results, which they describe as “rigged” and reveal the fate of more than two million votes for their audience.
Ali Fadlallah, spokesman for the Rights Movement, which is affiliated with the Shiite “coordination framework,” told Al-Quds Al-Arabi that “in the speeches of the opposition political forces, they said that they are not looking for charity, grants or donations from some political forces,” noting that “the forces The objecting politician wants to return to the real results that the Iraqi people voted for, and give them many votes.”
He added: “Everyone knows that the electoral weight of the coordinating framework forces exceeds two million and 250 thousand votes, but the seats they obtained (according to the semi-final results) do not match this percentage,” explaining that “what is required is to work on the commission’s review of the announced results, and to correct the announced numbers. , in a manner that guarantees the integrity of the results, and not granting the opposition political forces charity or granting them parliamentary seats. This is rejected.”
According to Fadlallah, “the objecting political forces want the real results that the Iraqi street voted on as they are, and not as announced by the commission. These results have been tampered with, which negatively affected the opposition political forces.
Regarding the next steps of the political forces objecting to the election results, in the event that the appeals are “consistent” with the announced results, and the possibility of an escalation of the public of those forces, Fadlallah explained: “The political forces within the coordination framework that oppose the election results, deal with events realistically and objectively, away from recklessness. ».
Regarding the expected escalation, he pointed out that “the escalation is intended to work on putting pressure on the government, the political class, and the commission in order to correct the course of the elections, given that there are non-objective and unreal results, and these votes were manipulated in order to distance the opposition forces from the political process, or reduce it and undermine it. being in that process.” A spokesman for the Rights Movement suggested that “the expected escalation of these forces is to deal with events gradually in a positive way, for example, the demonstrations today are in one place, while in the future they may be in more than one place, and this is what actually happened a few days ago.” Noting that “the escalation will be legal, far from what many imagine that the escalation will be military or in the form of military confrontations.”
He went on to say: “These forces do not want to drag the country into chaos, contrary to what the conspirators want to push the country towards security and political chaos that leads to the destruction of the political system. The forces objecting to the results of the elections are keen on the stability of the country in all cases.”
In the context of discussions to form the largest parliamentary bloc, and to choose the new government, Fadlallah indicated that “the forces of the coordination framework have very great comfort in the number of seats that exceed 84, subject to increase. This gives it a strong incentive to be the nucleus of the largest parliamentary bloc, especially since the interpretation of the Federal Court emphasized the largest parliamentary bloc and not the winning bloc, which will give the coordinating framework greater comfort in the field of negotiation, apart from whether the Commission will, through the judicial body, to Correcting the results and increasing the number of seats for political forces objecting to the election results (the coordination framework).
He believed that “one of the expected possibilities is to go to a consensus government similar to the scenario of the 2018 government (led by Adel Abdul-Mahdi) based on the two poles (the coordination framework) and (the Sadrist movement), explaining that “the coordination Ghattar does not reject this idea, in order to contain The crisis, but so far there are no signs of approval on the part of the Sadrist movement.” However, writer and political analyst Ali Al-Baydar suggested that the next prime minister would be chosen, according to “Christian conditions,” which would enable the current Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, to remain in his position as a “compromise candidate” between the “Sadr bloc” and the “coordinating framework.” .
He added, “Al-Kazemi is a candidate for a settlement that is strongly proposed in the event that the political parties do not agree on another figure,” while he pointed out that the leader of the “State of Law” coalition, Nuri al-Maliki, “is presenting himself as a primary candidate, especially since he enjoys the support of Shiite and Sunni political forces,” as he saw The chances of the leader of the victory coalition, Haider al-Abadi, “are very weak, especially as he is the candidate of the losing forces, not to mention that he (Al-Abadi) was talking about uncontrolled weapons and he is the candidate for this weapon,” according to his opinion.
He continued, “The strongest option is to be a Sadrist prime minister candidate, or under Sadrist conditions,” adding that “Al-Maliki can be this Sadrist candidate, but on the terms of the Sadrist bloc, for Maliki and al-Sadr are closer to each other at this stage, since 2007.”
He concluded by saying: «It is not possible to go to a Sadrist government away from al-Maliki or a Maliki government away from al-Sadr. The two parties will resort to consensus, interest requires that. There will be a prime minister with Sadrist conditions, whether he is Al-Kazemi or Al-Maliki, and he must come through an agreement between Al-Sadr and Al-Maliki.”

العراق: لا بديل عن اتفاقٍ الصدر والمالكي لحسم منصب رئيس الوزراء وحظوظ الكاظمي قويّة كمرشح تسوية

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Iraq.. The blocs are waiting for the Shiite house to be arranged, and for fear of increasing differences between Al-Sadr and Al-Attar

political| 07:51 – 13/11/2021

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Special – Mawazine News
The stage of scrutiny of the appeals of the election results has reached its final stages, after it was transferred to the judiciary, but attention is still awaiting the arrangement of the Shiite house, which was divided by the preliminary results into two parts to start negotiations to form the next government.
The information obtained by / Mawazine News / confirms the continuation of the division of the Shiite house into two camps, the first headed by Muqtada al-Sadr, whose Sadrist bloc obtained 73 seats, and the second is represented by the coordinating framework, in which most of the bloc rejects the election results and its supporters are demonstrating on the green frontiers.
Despite Al-Sadr’s visit to Baghdad last week, and his meeting with a number of political leaders in the coordination framework, such as the head of the Wisdom Movement Ammar Al-Hakim and the head of the victory coalition Haider Al-Abadi, the differences still persist, as the framework blocs, most notably the Al-Fateh Alliance, reject the results and consider them “forged.”
The information indicates, “There is a fear among the Sunni and Shiite blocs of the expansion of differences between the two parties, as everyone fears that these differences will affect the negotiations to form the government and the selection of candidates for the three presidencies.”
For his part, the Secretary of the Iraqi Communist Party, Raed Fahmy, said in an interview with “Mawazine News” that “the concerned political talk is a reflection of continuing to challenge the election results on the process of forming the government and political coalitions.”
He added, “All the forces and components are waiting for the affairs of the Shiite house to be resolved, and if the request for re-counting and general sorting remains with the Commission completing its transactions through legal methods, we will await the future of the rejection and its continuation or not.”
He concluded, “The formation of a national majority government allows the rejectionist forces to form an opposition bloc within Parliament.” Ended 29 / h

https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=174831

An American network: American officials rule out Iran’s involvement in the attack on Al-Kazemi

Reports & AnalyticsIranbreakingShiite factionsAl-Kazemi’s assassination attempt 2021-11-13 12:07A-AA+

Shafaq News/ The American “NBC News” network quoted current and former US officials as saying that Iran did not issue orders to launch a drone attack to target Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, although it is almost certain that Shiite militia forces that Tehran armed and supported, carried out attack. 

A senior US military official and two former senior US officials said; The assassination attempt shows that Tehran has struggled to contain rival Shiite militia leaders, since Washington assassinated the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and the leaders of the Iranian Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, in January 2020. 

The American network quoted the American military official in a report translated by Shafak News Agency; He said that “it is fair to say that Iran has not had much control over these groups since the killing of Soleimani.” 

Drones armed with explosives were at Al-Kazemi’s house in Baghdad in the early hours of the morning of November 7, but Al-Kazemi survived. Iran condemned the attack and denied any role in it.

The American network indicated that current and former officials and regional experts say that the design and components of the drones are similar to other drones used by Iranian-backed militias since July 2020, including a number of failed attacks on the US embassy compound.

The network pointed out in its report that the commander of the US Central Command, General Frank McKenzie, blamed the assassination attempt on Iranian-backed militias earlier this week, while current and former US officials say that the weapons used, tactics, and the target all refer to the Iranian-backed militias.

Having indicated that Iran’s relationship with its proxies in Iraq and other regions of the Middle East is deliberately opaque, giving it the means to deny responsibility for the attacks carried out by the partners it trained and armed. But the network said that current and former officials now say that the assassination attempt was not backed by Iran. 

The network quoted the former US ambassador to Iraq, Douglas Silliman, that it does not appear that the assassination of Al-Kazemi serves Iran’s strategic interests, because it would risk unleashing a turbulent chain of events on its borders.

The former US ambassador said, “I would be very surprised if Iran ordered a drone attack on Al-Kazemi. Iran does not want to see a completely destabilizing Iraq, and simply wants an Iraq that is not balanced enough to have broad political and economic influence.” 

The report of the American network pointed to the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Esmail Qaani, to Baghdad immediately after the attack, and to his call for calm and national unity, adding, however, that it is believed that Qaani exerts less influence than Soleimani, who spoke Arabic and had years of experience. In dealing with the Iraqi militias, she pointed out that none of the militias had the authority that Muhandis had. 

Douglas Silliman considered that the absence of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis sparked a struggle for influence between the militia leaders and is still emerging, adding, “I think that the tension in the ranks of the Iraqi militia leaders is as much as it exists between the militias and Tehran.” 

The report also quoted a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Michael Knights as saying that the militias have committed a series of political mistakes and have been struggling to maintain their influence since the killing of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis. “Since then, the wheels have stopped turning,” he added. 

Norm Rolle, who worked for 34 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and served in the Middle East, said that the Iraqi forces loyal to Iran are not “a single bloc”, considering that competition between them could generate more violence.

“It is likely that Iran will reduce support for some (militias) in favor of others. However, the former groups will not only disappear and this will be a problem for everyone,” Rowley explained. 

The report noted; The attack raised experts’ questions about why US or allied intelligence agencies did not detect the attack in advance and whether Washington should provide more security assistance, including anti-drone technology, to protect senior Iraqi and former officials. 

“The attack also showed that Iraqi and Western intelligence about forces loyal to Iran is still not enough,” Rowley said. “. 

While the report indicated that the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council in the White House declined to comment, and that President Joe Biden demanded that those responsible for the attack be identified and held accountable, Rowley said that the attack on Al-Kazemi did not necessarily serve Iran’s strategic goals. 

However, Rowley added that Tehran bears part of the responsibility for the attack due to its strong support for the militias, and explained that “while it may be a good thing that Iran did not order the assassination attempt against Al-Kazemi, we should not ignore the fact that Iran established, trained and directed the groups that “It is likely that it was behind this attack. For this reason, at least, Iran bears some responsibility for this attack.”

Translation: Shafak News Agency

https://shafaq.com/ar/%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA/%D8%B4%D8%A8%D9%83%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B3-%D9%88%D9%84%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%8A%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%B7-%D9%8A%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%85-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%B8%D9%85%D9%8A

Al-Kazemi’s advisor reveals Iraq’s position on its debts

  •  Time: 11/13/2021 09:22:32 
  •  Reading: 1,989 times 
Al-Kazemi’s advisor reveals Iraq’s position on its debts

{Economic: Al Furat News} Mazhar Muhammad Salih, Advisor to the Prime Minister for Financial and Economic Affairs, revealed Iraq’s position on its debts. 

Saleh said in a statement to {Euphrates News}, that “the debts owed by Iraq were signed within the Paris Agreement in 2004, and it is among the debts of the former regime, as it included more than 129 billion dollars.”

Saleh added, “A large number of these debts have been extinguished, and there are countries that have extinguished them by 100%. For example, America has extinguished its debts in full, Russia has extinguished 94%, and Algeria has completely extinguished debts, and Cyprus as well.”

He pointed out that “there are countries that did not extinguish the debts, but did not demand them.”

Raghad Daham

https://alforatnews.iq/news/%D9%85%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%B8%D9%85%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81-%D9%85%D9%88%D9%82%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87

The Sadrist movement reveals the date of the start of the formation of alliances: it will lead to two camps

politicsbreakingSadrist MovementAlliancesgovernment formation 2021-11-13 06:30A-AA+

Shafaq News/ The Sadrist movement, led by Muqtada al-Sadr, confirmed today, Saturday, that the Iraqi political forces will start talks to form the new federal government after approving the results of the legislative elections that took place last October.

The leader in the movement, Essam Hussein, told Shafaq News Agency, “The political blocs are waiting for the election results to be approved, especially after the head of the Supreme Judicial Council, Faiq Zaidan, confirmed that there was no evidence of electoral fraud,” adding that “after the results were approved by the Federal Court.” The movement of understandings between the blocs will turn into alliances, serious and real.”

Zaidan had confirmed, in statements to the official government media, that the “falsification” of the results of the recent parliamentary elections “has not been proven so far.”

Hussein indicated that “the political movement for the purpose of forming alliances among the political forces will lead to two camps. The first camp calls for a national majority government, and the second camp desires a consensual government, especially from some of the losing forces.” all levels.”

The Baghdad Friday sermon preacher of the Sadrist movement, Hussein al-Asadi, had confirmed yesterday that the Sadrist bloc seeks to guide its leader Muqtada al-Sadr to form a “national majority government that is not affiliated, distributing resources to the people fairly.”

The results of the parliamentary elections resulted in the Sadrist bloc, led by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, winning more than 70 seats, which qualifies him to form the federal government in alliance with winning political forces from the Kurds and Sunnis, and this angered the Shiite parties opposed to Sadr.

The coordinating framework consists of Shiite forces objecting to the election results, which lost many of their seats in the October 10 elections.

At the head of these forces is the Al-Fateh Alliance led by Hadi Al-Amiri, and its alliance serves as a political umbrella for Shiite factions closely linked to Iran.

The framework also includes the “state forces” coalition led by Ammar al-Hakim and Haider al-Abadi, in addition to the State of Law coalition led by Nuri al-Maliki. 

These forces object to the results of the primary elections and say they are “fabricated” and demand a recount of the votes by hand across the country.

The Electoral Commission rejects this demand, and has recounted the votes in the stations that received complaints about them.

According to the Electoral Commission, the manual counting is 100% consistent with the electronic results.

https://shafaq.com/ar/%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A9/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%AF%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B9%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D8%B4%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%B6%D9%8A-%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86

Including Iraq.. The reserves of the first five Arab countries of gold exceed 1,000 tons

economyIraqArab countriesgold reserve 2021-11-13 01:30A-AA+

Shafaq News/ The World Gold Council announced on Saturday that the possession of the yellow metal in the first five Arab countries, including Iraq, as reserves amounted to more than 1,000 tons for the third quarter of 2021.

The council said in its latest schedule for the month of November 2021, which was seen by Shafak News Agency, that “the gold reserves of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Algeria, Libya and Iraq rose to reach 1005.5 tons in the third quarter of this year, compared to the second quarter of it, which amounted to 996.5 tons.” .

And he indicated that “Saudi Arabia’s possession of gold amounted to 323.1 tons, while Lebanon’s possession of gold amounted to 286.8 tons, Algeria 173.6 tons, Libya 116.6 tons, and Iraq’s gold reserves amounted to 96.4 tons.”

He pointed out that “the reserves of the first five countries in the world were America, Germany, Italy, France and Russia amounted to 18,672 thousand tons, and the United States of America came in the first place with 8133 thousand tons, followed by Germany with 3,259 thousand tons, then Italy came 2451 thousand tons, and France 2436 thousand tons, Russia came fifth with 2,292,000 tons.

It is noteworthy that the World Gold Council, which is headquartered in the United Kingdom, has extensive experience and deep knowledge of the factors that cause market change, and its members consist of the largest and most advanced gold mining companies in the world.

https://shafaq.com/ar/%D8%A7%D9%82%D8%AA%D8%B5%D9%80%D8%A7%D8%AF/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D9%85%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B0%D9%87%D8%A8-%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B2-1000-%D8%B7%D9%86

Demands to revaluate the dinar, the government responds

ReportIraqi dinar 2021-11-12 13:16A-AA+

Shafaq News / Devaluating the Iraqi dinar in the 2021 budget has stirred the discontent of the public, and economic and financial experts alike. In spite of the warnings from its negative economic and social reverberations, the Iraqi Ministry of Finance ascribes it a breakthrough amid a stifling economic crisis that has struck the country.

Last December, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) opted to raise the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar from 1,182 dinars to 1,460 dinars to alleviate the ramifications of the plummeting oil revenues, bringing down the value of the Iraqi national currency and the purchasing power immediately. 

As oil prices gradually climbed beyond the 80 dollars a barrel threshold, citizens and economists voiced demands to revaluate the dinar in next year’s budget or mitigate the impact of its devaluation on the community.

“The rise is an outcome of a white paper that organizes the process over three to five years. They deem it a part of the economic reform process for the financial situation and banks,” economist Bassem Jamil Antoine told Shafaq News agency, “the state cannot change its currency. Still, real reform that serves the poor classes is essential.”

“The currency rate is not as vital as compensation for the poor classes, which constitute the bulk of the population; social welfare, ration card availability, and job development are all critical,” he said, “unemployment and poverty rates skyrocketed due to lack of job opportunities in the public sector. On the other hand, the private sector is frozen and unable to function properly.” 

“The recovery of oil prices must compensate for the people, address the deficit, and provide job opportunities for unemployed youth. This will reinvigorate the market, put an end to corruption, and activate the private sector,” he said.

Gradual Revaluation 

Economist Dhurgham Mohamed Ali said that revaluating the dinar shall be contingent upon several factors, “The exchange rate of the dollar should be gradually reduced to 1,300 dinars while keeping an eye on the cash transactions to preclude creating a black market, dollar smuggling, and tighten the control over imports.”

“The outcomes of the devaluation were detrimental. The inflation rates grew, poverty rates soared, while development rates remained static and foreign currency smuggling exacerbated,” Ali added.

Neglecting the private sector

“The government has not contributed to reducing the poverty gap and unemployment after raising the dollar rates that inflicted all the strata of society,” trader Amir Mohammed al-Hasani told Shafaq News agency, “Its concern was how to pay the salaries of officials and ministers without considering the negative aspects of the devaluation.”

“The government should have combated the widespread corruption in the Iraqi state, revived the private sector by eliminating the obstacles hindering its growth and activating laws that would provide support and protection to this important sector,” al-Hasani said.

“The rise in the dollar has hurt us as foodstuff prices have risen to more than 30% despite the steady salaries we earn,” Hussein al-Khafaji, an employee of the Ministry of Education, told Shafaq News agency.

“My salary ends by the middle of the month, forcing me to look for another job to meet the needs of the family,” he said, calling on the government to revaluate the dinar.

For its part, a government source told Shafaq News agency that the dollar rates will remain unchanged in the fiscal year 2022.

“There is no change or incident that causes the exchange rate to change,” the source said, adding, “the Ministry of Finance has confirmed this.”

“Over the previous nine months, the ministry has constantly followed the indicators of devaluation against the dollar,” the Ministry of Finance stated on October 5, 2021.

The exchange rate alteration has contributed to a rise in the Central Bank’s foreign reserves to 60 billion dollars in April 2021, up from 54 billion dollars in December 2020.

According to the Finance Ministry, the currency rate shift also helped “reduce the demand for foreign currency, lower the dependence on imports, and enhance local production.”

“In the context of the crisis, there has been a clear recovery in corporate activity in the last nine months of this year,” the Finance Ministry stated. 

According to the ministry, it is working to “reinvest the revenues of the funds achieved to build a target production base outside the oil sector and rely on other sectors, which will contribute to the decline in demand for the dollar as a result of compensating some of the goods produced.”

Since the current government’s formation, the ministry has adopted plans and mechanisms to reform Iraq’s fiscal policy, culminated in adopting the “White Paper”, which outlined future economic and financial policy steps to promote domestic production and reduce imports for the country.

Shafaq.com