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Hot Dog on a Stick to Open 10 Units in Iraq
In Iraq, years of economic and political instability have created an environment of mistrust that is leading many to avoid depositing their money in banks. The preference is to store cash at home. This tendency has undermined Iraq’s ability to develop its banking system, which is already hamstrung by insufficient legal and regulatory frameworks and the influence of the country’s oil rentier model. But even though cash remains king in Iraq, some people are looking beyond the traditional banking system for opportunities in digital banking. They argue that this will expand the Iraqi public’s access to financial services and aid economic development.FAT (Fresh. Authentic. Tasty.) Brands Inc., parent company of Hot Dog on a Stick and 16 other restaurant concepts, has announces a new development deal to open 10 new franchised locations in Iraq.
In partnership with Global Vita USA LLC, 10 Hot Dog on a Stick locations will open throughout the country over the next five years, with the first units set to open in 2024.
The first Hot Dog on a Stick opened in 1946 in Santa Monica, California.
FAT Brands has already launched other restaurant concepts in Iraq.
Will Digital Banks lure Cash from under Iraqi Mattresses?
Will digital banks lure out cash under Iraqi mattresses?
In Iraq, years of economic and political instability have created an environment of mistrust that is leading many to avoid depositing their money in banks. The preference is to store cash at home. This tendency has undermined Iraq’s ability to develop its banking system, which is already hamstrung by insufficient legal and regulatory frameworks and the influence of the country’s oil rentier model.
But even though cash remains king in Iraq, some people are looking beyond the traditional banking system for opportunities in digital banking. They argue that this will expand the Iraqi public’s access to financial services and aid economic development.
Cash remains king
Iraq is home to seven government banks, over 50 local private banks, some 40 commercial banks, and more than a dozen foreign private banks. The majority of these actors rely heavily on the Central Bank of Iraq’s (CBI) foreign currency sales to secure a profitable balance sheet, rather than traditional investments. Corruption is also a major concern. Banks have been accused of helping to smuggle major sums out of the country since the 2003 US-led invasion.
images here I can't copy and paste
Mistrust of banks—including government-owned banks—extends to state employees. 51-year-old Mus'ab Abdullah, who works at the Ministry of Oil, told Amwaj.media that "the thought of depositing money in banks is very worrisome.” Abdullah flat out declared, “I prefer hoarding cash at home."
The scale of the problem should not be underestimated. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official at a state-owned bank estimated that of the approximately 76T IQD (58.46B USD) in cash circulating in Iraq, only about one-fifth is deposited in banks. Hoarding of savings at home presents a risk since paper currency could be damaged, lost, or stolen.
Iraqi economist Haidar Al-Shaheen agrees that keeping cash at home stems from a lack of trust in the country’s banking system, describing it as underdeveloped compared to neighboring countries. For example, Iraqi banks do not allow depositors to withdraw their funds all at once, instead forcing them to withdraw smaller amounts in installments. There have also been documented incidents where bank owners or criminals have stolen
Local banks are “not able to work with Iraqis in establishing an economic infrastructure due to the poor banking system and [are] not fulfilling their commitments towards clients," Shaheen charged, lamenting that "Iraq still lacks a legal act that guarantees deposits in banks.”
The government should develop a plan to develop the banking sector and implement reforms in coordination with a campaign to educate the public about the benefits of depositing their money, argued Ali Da'doush, an economist and instructor at the University of Baghdad.
"A good environment to encourage investment ought to be created and insurance for the funds ought to be put in place by adopting laws that protect investors, especially local investors," Da'doush told Amwaj.media. "Services, such as tax exemptions and discounts, or the provision of protection and security to investors” would contribute to combating cash hoarding, he added.
This would still leave Iraqis standing in line at the bank waiting to deposit their money, a practice that much of the world has left behind.
Prospects for the rise of digital banking
Some economists and banking experts hope that Iraq will think bigger and take steps towards establishing a vibrant digital banking system. They argue that this would provide consumers with better access to tools like e-payments and improve service provision.
Unlike traditional banks, digital banks do not have a store-front presence but use the internet to serve clients through mobile phone applications and online platforms.
"Digital banks contribute to expanding people's access to and provision of banking and finance services remotely, without any constraints," said banking researcher Maysam Abd Al-Karim. Speaking to Amwaj.media, she argued that "the transition towards digital banks has become an urgent necessity that cannot be ignored. Moreover, the growing trend of consolidating financial industries with modern technologies will create new products that drastically change how banking and finance institutions work."
Abd Al-Karim believes that a transition to digital banking will alter the behavior of both companies and consumers in a “holistic” way.
For banks, she explained, the changes will result in better customer services, reduced operating costs, and improved efficiency. It would also bring in new local, regional, and international clients. Once banks decide to offer new ranges of digital services, the banking researcher elaborated, the public will start using these new products.
“It also alters how enterprises offer their services and products to clients in a faster and more seamless manner that goes in line with customer behavior and answers their wants and needs. It allows clients to adapt to the new digital and technological trends," Abd Al-Karim said.
However, these platforms are just in their infancy in Iraq. To aid their progress, the government must put in place new regulatory frameworks to govern digital banking.
Waiting for e-payments
In early 2021, the Central Bank of Iraq launched the Digital Banking Enrollment service. According to the CBI, the program is an “integrated digital financial system” that enhances independence from traditional systems. This will “turn Iraq into a country less dependent on cash, which enables the state to fight corruption, evasion, and bureaucracy," a statement by the central bank added.
A necessary part of any digital banking system is the ability to make e-payments. At present, the most common form of such transfers experienced by Iraqis is actually the government’s use of smart cards to distribute public sector salaries. Nevertheless, most people end up withdrawing their salaries as cash, taking the money out of the digital banking system.
Banking expert Qais Al-Khafaji told Amwaj.media that most Iraqis use smartphones for communication, gaming, and social media. While consumers around the world also use their devices for financial transactions, there is a limited opportunity for Iraqis to follow suit because banks and retailers do not yet use e-payments.
In Khafaji's view, adopting digital systems would encourage the public to make use of online financial services. He argued that the government could institute electronic payments for power and water bills and other basic utilities, or even offer tax exemptions to promote the adoption of electronic transfers.
Yet, this is easier said than done. Iraq’s banking and financial legislation is outdated and cannot accommodate modern digital systems.
Mazhar Muhammad Salih, a finance advisor to the Iraqi prime minister’s office, believes that the "rentier nature of the public and private banking system is one of the key hurdles hindering the development of a modern banking culture.”
For example, Banking Act No. 94/2004 outlines a number of “prohibited activities” that cause banks to shy away from making significant, long-term investments for fear of losing cash liquidity. This has encouraged consumers to instead use banking and money services sanctioned by Islamic law.
As a result, Salih told Amwaj.media that most banks have a smaller range of operations that they can offer to their customers compared with foreign counterparts. These include the CBI's foreign currency sales window, issuing letters of credit, and settling salaries.
“Most of these instruments are directly connected to the government's rentier activity and its direct and indirect impacts," he said.
All in all, despite tantalizing possibilities on the digital horizon, Iraq’s banking system is likely to remain in the cash era for the foreseeable future.
Al-Nusairi: The battle for the stability of the exchange rate with speculators in the black market will end with the recovery of the dinar
Samir Al-Nusairi, advisor to the Association of Iraqi Private Banks, confirmed today, Monday, that the battle led by the government and the central bank with speculators to control the stability of the dinar exchange rate against the dollar on the black market will end with the gradual recovery of the dinar and that the rise in the exchange rate is temporary, and will inevitably decrease back to the target rate of The central bank in Iraq, because the dollar that is traded in, if it does not come from the central bank, then its source is illegitimate and is held accountable by Iraqi law for its negative effects on the national economy.
Al-Nusairi said in an interview with "Al-Iqtisad News", that "one of the most prominent reasons for the rise in the dollar is the news of depriving 14 banks of dealing in US dollars and what the big speculators did in withdrawing cash dollars and the manipulation of unauthorized exchanges with exchange rates." In addition, some small retailers did not enter the electronic platform for external transfer.
And he added, “Some media outlets and analysts exacerbated the confusion of the market by amplifying unreal and incomplete data and information, as well as websites and microbes that announce daily the exchange rate on the black market despite the warnings of the Central Bank and its clarification by its statements issued successively that the offer of foreign currency is available for all requests submitted to the electronic platform by companies.” And merchants and businessmen, and that the platform is the only approved system for external transfers, which achieves the real guarantee for the safety of external financial transactions in accordance with international standards, which guarantee the arrival of transfers to the final beneficiary.
Al-Nusairi pointed out, "The Central Bank follows up and monitors the markets in cooperation with the concerned government agencies, and takes urgent measures to address the situation and stop all countermeasures that harm the national economy." In particular, limiting illegal trade through unofficial outlets.
And he continued, “The Central Bank is working to diagnose and study the causes and obstacles to entering the electronic platform, delaying some transfers, and setting up procedures that facilitate merchants’ conduct of their business smoothly and easily, and taking possible flexibility to accelerate external transfers in banks, the Central Bank, and in the relevant international banking agencies.”
Al-Nusairi noted that “the measures will inevitably result in a decrease in the exchange rate on the black market for the illegal dollar, and that the Central Bank is currently working on adopting new mechanisms and work contexts to control monetary stability, and their results will appear soon.” We urge all government agencies, wholesalers, and businessmen to support the Iraqi dinar and deal with it in all local monetary activities and transactions, as it is strong and covered by foreign monetary reserves that exceed $113 billion, and that its purchasing power is gradually recovering. In addition to being an essential pillar of national sovereignty.
Kurdish bloc: Legislation of the oil law will grant the producing provinces rights
The representative of the New Generation Bloc, Omid Muhammad, affirmed, on Monday, that the oil and gas law legislation will grant the rights of the oil-producing provinces, indicating that the law legislation will resolve differences over the oil file.
Muhammad said in an interview with Al-Maalouma agency, "The legislation of the law finds a radical solution to the oil and gas problems between the federal government and the regional government, which represents one of the outstanding problems between the two sides."
He added, "The oil and gas law is one of the controversial laws, and a political agreement must be found on it outside the parliament to remove obstacles in its path."
He pointed out that "the legislation of the law puts everyone before their powers and defines them clearly, which will eliminate the differences that currently exist regarding the oil file."
The Oil, Gas and Natural Resources Committee confirmed Parliament's intention to legislate the oil and gas law during the current session, while noting that approving the law would contribute to resolving the problems between Baghdad and Erbil.
Iraq's neighbors are the biggest beneficiaries.. An economist rules out the chances of a "simultaneous" solution to the dollar crisis
The economist, Bassem Jamil Antoine, saw on Monday that controlling the dollar prices requires time and long-term solutions due to the complete paralysis of the productive sector in Iraq.
Antoine told Shafaq News agency, "The production sector (agricultural and industrial) in Iraq is completely suspended, and Iraq's survival dependent on imports will drain the dollar from the Iraqi markets, and neighboring countries are the biggest winners, in addition to the difficulty of controlling smuggling and speculation mafias by the competent authorities.
The economist ruled out the return of the dollar to normal exchange rates quickly - in light of the economic data -, stressing that the matter "requires long-term solutions and takes a long time to address the crisis by activating production and dispensing with a large part of import operations."
Antoine concluded his speech by saying: "The solutions are internal and through effective economic plans, and support for the agricultural and industrial sectors to protect the Iraqi market in the face of simultaneous dollar crises."
Yesterday, Sunday, the Iraqi government expressed its hope that the release of budget funds would contribute to reducing the price of the dollar in the parallel market, while it acknowledged that currency speculators had long experience and fraud methods dating back to the nineties of the last century.
The government statements contradict the assumptions of economists that the exchange rate of the dollar will stabilize at its current rates in the parallel market, which exceed the barrier of 150 thousand dinars for every 100 dollars.
Over the past few months, the Central Bank of Iraq's attempts to control the parallel currency market, subjugate the exchange rate and return it to the official rate of 1,320 dinars per dollar have failed.
Baghdad checked the employees' data.. The region will receive its budget soon and with retroactive effect
A former member of the Finance Committee in the dissolved Kurdistan Region Parliament, Sabah Hassan, confirmed, on Monday (August 14, 2023), that an agreement was soon reached on sending the region’s budget retroactively.
Hassan said in an interview with "Baghdad Today" that "the federal financial oversight delegation present in the region conducted a comprehensive review of the data, statistics and numbers of employees in Kurdistan and audited them."
He added, "The governments of Baghdad and Erbil will reach an agreement in the coming days, and the entire share of the region will be sent retroactively from the beginning of this year, and the advances sent by Baghdad will be deducted."
On August 11, the first real move began to implement the budget instructions, especially Articles 12 and 13 of the Federal General Budget Law, so that Baghdad could send the funds and dues of the Kurdistan region from the budget, which are supposed to amount to more than 25 trillion Iraqi dinars for the year 2023 .
This step was represented by the arrival of a high-ranking delegation from the Office of Financial Supervision in the federal government to the Kurdistan region "to conduct a comprehensive and extensive inventory with tedious details on all the Kurdistan Region's expenditures for the year 2022 as well as the first six months of this year," according to a source in the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region who spoke to "Baghdad." today .”
The source said, "The delegation will stay in the region for a period of 10 days, as the Ministry of Finance and Economy in Kurdistan informed all government departments and institutions in the region to prepare all the necessary papers for expenses for the aforementioned period for the delegation of the Office of Financial Supervision to see them," indicating that "a delegation from the Office of Financial Supervision will accompany them In the region, the delegation of the Financial Supervision Bureau of the federal government .
And he explained that "after the return of the delegation of the Financial Supervision Bureau to Baghdad, another delegation will come from the capital to Kurdistan from the Bureau of Financial Supervision to review all the numbers and expenses provided by the regional government with regard to expenses and the number of employees as well as the volume of imports," noting that "this procedure comes among the steps The first is to apply the provisions of the tripartite budget .
Articles 12 and 13 of the budget included obligations on the Kurdistan region, which included reviewing all non-oil revenues and expenses by the Federal Office of Financial Supervision, and handing them over to Baghdad, as well as 400,000 barrels per day of oil, in exchange for releasing Kurdistan’s share of the budget, which amounts in full to 25 trillion dinars, but It is funded on a monthly basis, with more than 2 trillion dinars per month.
Diyala: "Deportation" towns promote more than 1,000 transactions for Article 140 compensation within months
A government official in Diyala announced today, Monday, that more than 1,000 transactions for Article 140 compensation have been promoted over the past few months in Qazania district and Mandali district, east of the governorate.
The director of Qazaniya district, Mazen Al-Khuzaie, said in an interview with Shafaq News agency; "Compensation for Article 140 includes those forcibly deported because of the policies of the previous regime and those deported because of the Iran-Iraq war in the eighties of the last century."
Al-Khuzaie indicated that "changing the Article 140 Committee, launching financial allocations, and addressing a large part of the approved mechanisms revived the hopes of thousands of those covered by compensation who were affected by the policies of the former regime and the Iraq-Iran war."
Al-Khuzaie indicated that the compensation includes the provision of a plot of land and an amount of 10 million dinars, which dozens of families in Mandali and Qazania received over the past years, as well as the promotion of more than 1,000 transactions in recent months.
On May 15, 2023, the process of compensating the deportees returning to their homes, which had been suspended since 2014, resumed.
The offices of the Article 140 Compensation Committee are distributed in Kirkuk, Khanaqin and Sinjar.
The Iraqi federal general budget draft law allocated 100 billion dinars for the implementation of constitutional Article 140, an amount sufficient only to pay financial compensation for 10,000 returning families.
Specialists confirm the need for 150-200 billion dinars from the 2023 budget, to pay compensation to those covered by Article 140 in Mosul, Kirkuk and Diyala.
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Advisor to the Prime Minister: Major investments await the country
The Advisor to the Prime Minister for Investment Affairs, Muhammad al-Najjar, considered the Iraq Fund for Development a serious step on the path of real development, as it provides a high flow of investments in all sectors, away from all forms of complexity.
Al-Najjar said, in a statement to “Al-Sabah”: “The fund will come with the size of investments that meet Iraq’s actual needs, and are present on the ground implementing the projects that were entrusted to it or that came for its implementation, and with their specified time periods, benefiting from the large volume of facilities that are provided for these investments.” The projects are removed from all the complexities that accompanied the implementation of projects during the past years.
He added, “The size of the Iraqi labor market is large, and it can absorb specialized local, regional and international efforts and possesses financial solvency and advanced technology, as companies without the required specifications cannot work in the country and enter the Iraqi labor market. "
He pointed out that the country in the housing sector needs about 4 million housing units in various cities of the country, and this number increases annually with the growth of the country's population, and from here we can imagine the amount of work required in the housing sector in particular and the sectors supporting it, but when we go to The production and service sectors, as you find it wide and large, and it needs effective international partnerships that have their weight, aiming at Iraq, which represents a renewed and feasible job opportunity in all economic accounts.
Al-Najjar stated that the country is heading towards activating national production and reducing dependence on the international market to cover the country's need for various goods and commodities, provided that the direction is towards the international market to achieve integration that leads to market balance, pointing out that the government is working towards creating the appropriate environment for the return of Iraqi migrant talents To be supportive of productive and service development activities. In turn, the head of the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce, Abd al-Razzaq al-Zuhairi, described the Iraq Development Fund as important, which will revolutionize the national labor market, pointing out that the presence of a special interest from Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani in this fund enhances its paths. Al-Zuhairi told Al-Sabah: The fund will work to move the labor market in the country to levels it has not seen before, as it will employ the local effort and the international and regional investment effort in projects in all sectors.
He stressed that Iraq is in dire need to expand the scope of work in all sectors, and such a fund will have an active role in reviving the economic activities that Iraq needs. Al-Zuhairi pointed out that the Iraqi private sector has important international extensions and relations and possesses great expertise that can be employed in a way that achieves most development goals in cooperation with local and international partners, indicating that the projects implemented by the specialized local effort are now touching the world in implementation and specifications, and this matter is attributed to the sector. The real Iraqi private.
“It will not be passed unless on condition.” A parliamentary dispute obstructs the Industrial Investment Law
The Parliamentary Investment Committee described the Industrial Investment Law as one of the important laws that reached the stage of voting, but it will not be passed unless the clause of land ownership for the investor is deleted, pointing out that it will seek to delete the clause from the law before voting on it.
Committee member Diaa al-Hindi al-Hasnawi said, “The law caused a dispute between the Economics Committee and the Investment Committee over one paragraph in the Industrial Investment Law. Investing that "land is a state's asset".
Al-Hasnawi vowed to "mobilize parliamentarians to reject the article to proceed with approving the law because the law is ready for voting," noting that "there are 100,000 licenses issued for factories, some of them starting from 1998 to the present day."
He pointed out that "any audit will remove 95,000 factories, as they are mere licenses without facilities on the ground, while what remains is less than five thousand factories, most of which are less than normal and occupy tens of acres in city centers."
In turn, committee member Muhammad al-Ziyadi said that the industrial investment law is a very important law and is still under legislation, as there is a problem around it and two visions.
He added, "The law is still under study, despite its first and second reading."
Qaani met in Baghdad to discuss two important files and to confirm the coherence of the coordination framework after the local elections
An informed political source revealed, on Tuesday, that the commander of the Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, General Ismail Qaani, arrived in the capital, Baghdad, to discuss two important files with the Iraqi government and political leaders.
The source told Shafaq News agency, "Qaani will discuss with Prime Minister Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani and the leaders of the coordination framework, the recent Iraqi-American negotiations related to the American presence."
And he indicated that the second file is "the political file related to electoral alliances and stressing the unity and coherence of the coordination framework after the results of the provincial elections appear."
In previous times, political and parliamentary sources from the coordination framework inclusive of Shiite forces, with the exception of the Sadrist movement, revealed, in statements to Shafaq News Agency, that the framework will enter the governorates of central and southern Iraq with multiple lists, and in the mixed governorates and cities with a unified list, or two or three lists.
A high-ranking Iraqi delegation, which included the ministers of defense and foreign affairs, visited Washington, DC, earlier to negotiate several files.
Oil expert: OPEC will not allow prices to exceed $85
Oil expert, Hamza Al-Jawahiry, confirmed today, Tuesday, that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC Plus, will not allow oil prices to reach above $85 a barrel.
Al-Jawahiri said in a statement to Al-Maalouma, "The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries relies in its oil policy on the advice of the Organization's Studies Center, which recommended reducing oil production by specific percentages in order to maintain reasonable prices."
He added, "The Center for Studies recommended the organization not to raise oil prices above $85, as it will stimulate the production of alternatives, including shale oil, as well as the development of alternative energy sources that need high costs."
Al-Jawahiri indicated that "oil prices will remain between 80 to 85 dollars per barrel, until the end of this year, after the decision to reduce production by the countries of the organization, led by Saudi Arabia."
this is from Reuters but they ran it in their news hahaha
Study: Expectations of an increase in global wealth by 38% by 2027
A study published by Credit Suisse and the UBS Group said today, Tuesday (August 15, 2023), that global wealth, which is measured by personal holdings of assets from real estate to stocks, is expected to increase by 38 percent by 2027, largely driven by markets. emerging.
The annual Global Wealth Report, which estimates the wealth holdings of 5.4 billion adults in 200 markets, said global wealth will reach $629 trillion in the next five years.
The optimistic forecasts come despite recording the first decline in 2022 in global net wealth since the global financial crisis in 2008.
The report revealed that in nominal terms, net private wealth fell 2.4 percent last year, with losses concentrated in the most prosperous regions such as North America and Europe. The appreciation of the dollar was an important factor.
The largest increases in wealth last year were in Russia, Mexico, India and Brazil. The report predicts an increase in wealth in the BRICS countries, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, by 30 percent by 2027.
Further increases in emerging markets are also expected to reduce global wealth inequality in the coming years.
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