OSTED ON BY SOTALIRAQ
Baghdad / Hussein Hatem
The exchange rates of the dollar are still fluctuating after the recent rise, which approached 160,000 dinars for every 100 dollars, as it is almost stable at the 150,000 mark.
The government of Muhammad Shia al-Sudani is trying to diversify sources of revenue to maintain the stability of the Iraqi economy, at a time when the Finance Committee confirmed that the exchange rate of the dollar would be 1450 dinars for every one dollar.
And the Prime Minister confirmed, yesterday, Monday, that “the exchange rate fluctuations and their impact on the Iraqi economy made us stick to the inevitability of economic reform, support for agriculture, industry, tourism and trade, instead of Iraq being a market for imported goods and a passage for smuggling hard currency and money laundering,” noting that “ Iraq has an opportunity to rise as an industrial country, with an industrial identity, and the government is supportive of the industrial sector in this path,” according to a statement by his media office.
In turn, Moein Al-Kadhimi, a member of the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives, said in an interview with (Al-Mada) that “the rise in dollar exchange rates during the last month of last year negatively affected the local market and the citizen.”
Al-Kazemi added, “The treatments were fast, and the exchange rates will return to what they were (approximately 145,000 dinars per 100 dollars).”
He pointed out, “The Prime Minister is trying to implement his government program accurately, by diversifying sources of income and encouraging the private sector, agriculture and industry, and not being satisfied with oil financial revenues.”
Al-Kadhimi stressed, “The need to reduce unnecessary expenditures and increase investment expenditures in order to transform the Iraqi economy from a rentier one to an economy with multiple dimensions.”
As for the price of the dollar in the 2023 budget, the member of the Finance Committee explained that “the price will remain constant as it was in the 2021 budget (1145 for every 100 dollars), while the price of a barrel of oil will range between 62-65 dollars.”
And he expected, “The arrival of the draft public financial budget law for the year 2023, with the beginning of the legislative term of the House of Representatives,” stressing that “any delay in the draft budget law will not affect the salaries of employees.”
In turn, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, the financial advisor to the Prime Minister, said in an interview with (Al-Mada) that “the fluctuations witnessed by the exchange markets in Iraq during the past period are not due to economic reasons, and that the financial situation in Iraq is at its best.”
Saleh added, “Iraq’s reserves of foreign currency exceeded $100 billion, and the current account surplus rate amounted to about 15 percent.”
He pointed out, “What happened was as a result of regulatory controls that linked the window for selling foreign currency, especially foreign transfers, to the so-called (international compliance with the dollar area). Therefore, the Federal Reserve Bank in the United States monitors its currency, and asks about ways to go.”
Saleh explained that “Iraqi merchants are required to provide correct documents on their orientations and the final beneficiary, as well as the type and price of the goods, so as not to arouse suspicion among the international authorities.”
And he continued, “In the first period, demand was more than supply and the gap occurred,” noting that “with the passage of time and the regularity of
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