{Local: Al-Furat News} The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers announced the suspension of official working hours tomorrow, Tuesday, on the occasion of Nowruz holidays.
Nowruz Day, also called Nowruz, is the most important holiday for the people of the Kurdish nationalism, and they consider it New Year’s Day, which reached 2634, and represents “the boundary between winter and spring, and “Nowruz” is a composite name consisting of the words “Noi” and “Rose” and means a new day.
Most of the city dwellers in the Kurdistan region of Iraq go to mountainous areas and green meadows in family outings days before Nowruz, and tourist sites are crowded intensively during the weekend, and meat grilling and popular dabkat are among the most prominent rituals of picnic trips.
President Abdullatif Rashid and the House of Representatives Mohammed Al-Halbousi stressed on Monday the need to expedite the adoption of the general budget law. The Presidency of the Republic said in a statement received by Mawazine News / a copy of it, that “President of the Republic Abdul Latif Rashid, received today, Monday, March 20, 2023, during his visit to Sulaymaniyah, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Mohammed Al-Halbousi.” He added, “During the meeting, views were exchanged on the developments of the situation in the country and discussed the performance of the government and its service program, and support everything that would achieve the aspirations of Iraqis.” He continued, “The discussions taking place in the Presidency of the Republic and Parliament were discussed regarding a number of pending laws and legislation affecting the lives of citizens, and stressing the need to expedite the adoption of the general budget law to start the process of construction and investment and improve the standard of living of Iraqis.” Ended 29/h
The Central Bank of Iraq announced today, Monday, the size of lending amounts within its project initiatives, while revealing the presence of more than 70 trillion dinars outside the banking system for trading.The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, said in a speech at the conference to activate lending programs in Iraq: “We thank the Association of Banks and the United States Agency for Development for keeping pace with the banking sector and attempts to promote it and push it with grants that achieve the desired goals for the Iraqi economy.”Al-Alaq added that “bank lending represents the main pillar in the work of the banking sector, whether with regard to its revenues, profits and operation or with regard to economic activities in various forms.”He pointed out that “the Central Bank was a pioneer in stimulating the lending capabilities of the banking sector, as in 2015, we launched an initiative that is perhaps the largest in the history of Iraq, which was to allocate 5 trillion dinars to industrial, agricultural and housing projects, as well as one trillion dinars to small and medium enterprises,” noting that “this initiative was able to stimulate the Iraqi economy significantly, whether at the level of some projects or in solving the housing problem by providing lending to the housing sector.”He pointed out that “the amounts that have been lent so far amounted to about 13 trillion dinars, which is a very large amount,” adding: “We are now in the process of evaluating these initiatives, taking advantage of lessons, putting them in the right directions and focusing them in specific goals.”“There will be a great focus in the next phase on financing small and medium enterprises, as well as with regard to renewable energy projects or loans in trying to contribute the central bank to meeting the challenges of climate and the field of clean energy,” he continued.He stressed, “The motivation of the banking sector towards its ability to lend policies should not depend on the central bank, because this role of the central bank is an exceptional role dictated by some circumstances, but the first and the basis is that the banking sector is able to take over and provide lending possibilities by bringing deposits and through its own financial capacity.”“We will soon work on a national lending strategy, and the paper was presented last month when I was outside the central bank, but aware of the importance of bank lending, I presented a paper at a conference at Al-Mustansiriya University on building rules for lending policies or a national lending strategy,” Al-Alaq continued.He pointed out that “these issues are very important and national because the issue of lending is not only related to the financial capabilities of banks, but also to the work environment and its regulatory and legal conditions and many factors that fall outside the banking system, so the joint strategy will be presented to the government and other parties to be the issue of their participation in supporting this plan to provide the necessary decisions and procedures to make it successful.”He pointed out that “some of the signals that we must focus on in the next stage were highlighted, which is that the ability of banks to lend depends on their capabilities in bringing deposits and this is the role of the banking sector to balance deposits and lending,” explaining that “indicators and data indicate that the banking sector has reached the highest lending ceiling because the percentage set according to the instructions of the Central Bank is 70% of deposits, and the banking sector has almost reached this percentage, which requires that there be great efforts to attract deposits to the banking sector.”“Many talk about the limitations of bank lending, so as not to blame the banking sector only because these are the capabilities at its disposal, which requires that there be a broad comprehensive plan to attract deposits so that the banking sector can mobilize them towards granting loans,” he added.He continued his speech: “We have more than 70 trillion dinars outside the trading banking system and this is a very large amount and represents a high percentage of GDP, so it is necessary to focus in the next stage on finding the necessary means to activate the deposit movement through several procedures in this regard, after we have completed the development of a comprehensive plan and a wide electronic payment strategy to expand the link between these funds that fall outside the banking system and their uses, which can be large and wide if these funds are attracted to the banking sector.”The Governor of the Central Bank called on the banking sector to “be an essential partner with the Central Bank in its provision of electronic payment methods at a wide national level,” adding: “Also, one of the matters that fall on the banking system in this regard and direction is to reconsider banking services quantitatively and qualitatively, because banking services have come a long way despite the short life of some banks, but some have reached advanced stages and others still need to improve the level of banking services in different types and in the method of submission.”He pointed out that “one of the striking things is that the survey conducted by the Arab Fund in studying the public’s reluctance to deal in the banking sector. Contrary to expectations, the first reason was that the services are complex and not conveniently available to the citizen in the banking sector, and this is a fact that exists and needs to mobilize the banking system in lending the citizen and providing the necessary services with the best methods and techniques. Unfortunately, he noticed that the citizen in some branches of banks is reviewing a complex administrative department or a court in the way he deposits or withdraws to amounts.”He pointed out that “the Central Bank issued a wide support to the banking sector in this field, and it will be the focus of our attention and monitoring on the ground for banking services and the extent to which they keep pace with the standards and achieve the goals we referred to.”He continued: “The issues that we call for to reduce the risk of borrowing due to high rates is the default in debt, and we will submit the project to establish a loan guarantee company, and this is very important and provide a great deal and flexibility for the banking sector to provide loans.”He stressed that “the banking sector needs more geographical spread,” adding: “We commend some banks that have extended to wide networks inside Iraq and call on other banks to promote this spread in the regions of the country.”He warned that “in order to reduce risks with regard to lending and in order for there to be a balance in sectoral growth, it is necessary to diversify the credit portfolio or loans, and this constitutes a security for the banking system and a balance in sectoral growth, and we note that there is a discrepancy in this area and this requires consideration, and the best evidence of that collapse suffered by Silicon Bank Ghali, because of the very clear is the credit concentration in a particular sector, and this was the main reason for the collapse of the bank.”He stressed that “sectors in Iraq need to be stimulated, grow and constructive, so focusing on a specific sector should not be the goal and the end result of bank loans, as happened now, we note there is a focus on the real estate sector and housing, which is important, but in return we note lending related to the agricultural, industrial and services sector is still at its lowest levels.”He concluded by saying: “We need to build the national strategy for bank lending, led by the Central Bank and presented to the private banking sector to give observations and opinions, and then start working on it to achieve the goals mentioned.”
Shafaq News / Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani directed, on Monday, to open all closed roads and alleys in Baghdad within a maximum period of two weeks.
The spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Major General Yahya Rasool, said in a brief statement to Shafaq News that “in order to ease the burden on citizens and ensure a high movement in the flow of the street movement, the Prime Minister directed the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani, to open all closed roads and all closed alleys within a maximum of two weeks within the boycott of Karkh operations, operations and Al-Rusafa operations.”
On March 2, Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani announced the launch of the first package of traffic jamming projects in the capital Baghdad, which comes based on the government program.
The first package projects, which are supervised by the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Municipalities, include the construction of new bridges and bridges, the development of highways, in addition to the rehabilitation and maintenance of many streets.
{Economic: Euphrates News} Gold prices jumped 1 percent, their highest since March last year on Monday to offset part of the losses they recorded earlier.
And with concerns about the global banking sector back to the fore despite U Bank’s rescue efforts. B. S) to acquire rival Credit Suisse to stabilize global financial markets.
And U agreed. B. S on Sunday bought Credit Suisse for $3.23 billion and suffered losses of up to $5.4 billion in a deal backed by a huge Swiss guarantee.
Credit Suisse was hit by a widening crisis that followed the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the United States, and gold rose more than eight percent or $160 amid rising demand for safe havens.
The dollar increased 0.1 percent, making the yellow metal too expensive for overseas buyers.
related news
Gold rose 1 percent in spot transactions to $2.30 an ounce by 0747 GMT, after falling 1 percent earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures jumped two percent to 2012.50.
Gold prices rose 10 percent, or about $180, on rising demand for it as a safe haven after the collapse of U.S. Silicon Valley earlier in the month, which in turn caused a crisis for Credit Suisse, which was founded 167 years ago.
For other precious metals, silver jumped about 1.5 percent to $22.77 an ounce, while platinum lost 0.5 percent to $970.53, and palladium rose 0.5 percent to $1392.50.
Baghdad – Mawazine News Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani received, on Monday, Saudi Minister of Commerce Majid Al-Qasabi and his accompanying delegation.
The meeting witnessed “a review of the overall prospects for cooperation between the two countries, and ways to develop bilateral relations, for the benefit of the two peoples,” according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Al-Sudani stressed, “openness towards developing partnership with Saudi Arabia in various sectors, especially those related to economic and investment aspects, as well as cooperation in the field of energy and coordination in the face of the effects of climate changes, and efforts to reduce their repercussions on the region.”
In turn, Al-Qasabi stressed, “continuing to work within the Iraqi-Saudi Coordination Council, which includes cooperation between the two countries in the economic, investment, tourism, security, and other fields.” It’s over 29/N33
Follow-up – Mawazine News Since last January, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa Al-Sudani announced a number of financial and economic reforms in the country, including the activation of the electronic payment system, where a statement issued by his office announced the work on activating the “Point of sales” system, as of June 1.
The government had confirmed the start of implementing the system with its electronic equipment exempting from taxes, in an attempt to encourage private companies to adopt this system, as Iraq is one of the countries that are lagging behind in its implementation.
Statistics Economic specialists confirm that the implementation of the electronic payment system means the need to open bank accounts for all shopping centers, hospitals, factories, medical clinics, pharmacies and others, in light of the country’s lack of branches of foreign international banks as well as in the rest of the world, which may cause a great demand for private and government banks that may not be able to keep up with the escalating demand.
According to a study prepared by the Central Bank of Iraq in 2018, the percentage of Iraqis with bank accounts does not exceed 3.2% of the total population of the country, and the number of government banks in Iraq is 7 banks, in addition to 25 private commercial banks, 3 Islamic private banks, and 3 branches of foreign Islamic banks, according to the official website of the Central Bank.
As for the number of foreign commercial banks, it is 16 banks belonging to Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and Jordan, taking into account that the Central Bank placed 7 of these banks under guardianship with the liquidation of their business in the country in 2020, according to the Central Bank website, with an office of the American Bank “CITY” and another for the German Bank “Commers”, where they are based in the Babylon Hotel in Baghdad.
3 months ago, the Central Bank of Iraq excluded 4 local banks from the currency auction, due to accusations against these banks related to dollar smuggling and money laundering, as this coincided with Iraq’s start of implementing the international money transfer system known as “SWIFT”.
With regard to the electronic sales system and the extent to which it can be implemented, Professor of Economics at the Iraqi University in Baghdad Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani explained that Iraq is still in the first phase of this experiment, and that former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi had started this since 2017 without applying it.
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Al-Mashhadani revealed that the electronic sales system needs to have “automated exchange units” (ATM) throughout Iraq, and that the total available of them does not exceed 1,564 ATMs, most of which are in Baghdad and Erbil, pointing out that ATMs are an integrated bank whose work includes withdrawal, deposit and transfer, but the services it provides in Iraq are limited to cash withdrawal only.
foreign banks On why European and American banks refrained from working in the country, member of the parliamentary finance committee Jamal Kojar spoke about the political situation. He argued that the coming period may see foreign banks enter the country. He explained that Iraq was classified in the past among the non-Western friendly countries, and was not subject to the international financial transfer system, and with the start of the application of this system and the electronic platform 4 months ago, it became ready to enter these foreign financial banks and companies.
Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani goes in this direction, who added that the main reason for the lack of branches of foreign international banks is due to the security situation witnessed by the country over the past two decades, at the same time alarming that these banks are afraid of Iraq because of indicators related to money laundering operations.
After noting the security stability in the past period and the steps and actions taken by the Central Bank in reducing money laundering through the electronic platform, Mashhadani hopes that the Iraqi government will be able to attract Western banks.
For his part, financial analyst Mahmoud Dagher spoke about another reason that may prevent the entry into force of government economic reforms, which is the instability of the Iraqi dinar in parallel markets, which makes traders prefer to deal with Iraqi cash or dollars away from the electronic selling system, which may apply to the work of foreign banks in the country.
With regard to the possibility of local and foreign banks absorbing government economic reforms, Dager explained – in his interview with Al Jazeera Net – that there are about 10 thousand and 500 “electronic points of sale” (POS) spread in the commercial sectors, stating that despite the small number of these devices, they are still not used so far, considering that there is a fear among traders of tax prosecution, which requires a high banking culture.
Absence of banking culture Economists in Iraq agree that Iraqis still face the problem of trust in banks operating in the country, as well as a lack of banking awareness, which Mahmoud Dagher adopts by saying that “Iraqi banks and branches of foreign banks have the ability to absorb hundreds of thousands of bank accounts in the country, but the problem lies in the banking culture that is still modest.”
Mashhadani agrees with this view in part, and adds that there is a lack of banking culture due to the reluctance of Iraqis to deal with banks due to the lack of services they provide, proposing the government to grant a 5-year “tax holiday” to encourage all commercial sectors to operate the electronic payment system.
On the other hand, economic journalist Nabil Al-Najjar believes that Iraqi banks have been able during the past five years to develop the technical sector, making them ready for the electronic sales system, and that they still need to increase the number of ATMs in all cities.
Regarding the banking culture, he explained that the Iraqi government is still failing to educate to deal with electronic criticism, indicating – in his talk to Al Jazeera Net – that the Iraqi government has what he described as the golden opportunity to adapt and encourage the Iraqi street to deal electronically, through many gradual measures by expanding the circle of imposing it on traders, markets and then the rest of the sectors. Otherwise, Iraq will remain dependent on paper cash with its problems and defects, as he put it.
Baghdad – Mawazine News The European Commission’s Vice President, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, on Monday confirmed the Union’s commitment to the terms of the Association Agreement with Iraq and the frameworks for its activation.
“The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met at the headquarters of the European Council, Vice-President of the European Commission and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in the European Union Josep Borrell, on the sidelines of the third session of the Council for Cooperation between Iraq and the European Union held in the capital Brussels for the period 19-21 March,” a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
During the meeting, according to the statement, they “discussed topics of common interest between Iraq and the European Union and ways to strengthen relations between the two sides, as the minister explained the importance of the partnership and cooperation agreement that frames the relationship with the European Union.”
“On the work of the three committees emanating from the partnership and cooperation agreement and the mechanisms of work in the next stage that will put the distinguished relationship between Iraq and the European Union on the ground was also discussed.”
For his part, Borrell outlined “the EU’s commitment to the terms of the agreement and the frameworks for its operationalization,” noting “Iraq’s geopolitical importance to the EU, and the effective role of Iraqi diplomacy in the region.” It’s over 29/N33
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