The Central Bank of Iraq announces the results of its visit to New York: A high-level delegation negotiated with the US Treasury

The Central Bank of Iraq announced the results of the visit of the delegation headed by the Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq, to the United States of America, which lasted from August 26 to 29, 2024.

The video for this blog post is below here:

The Central Bank of Iraq confirmed in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency that a high-level negotiating delegation headed by Governor Ali Mohsen Al-Alaq held a series of intensive meetings in New York City, USA, which included discussions with the US Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Bank, in addition to meetings with a group of companies (Visa, Mastercard and MoneyGram) as well as banks (Citi Bank and JP Morgan) as well as international auditing firms (KPMG, E&Y, K2i and Oliver Wyman).

He added that the participants in the meetings praised the major transformations accomplished by the Central Bank of Iraq, which represent an unprecedented achievement at the country level, as the bank has achieved remarkable progress in the procedures for monitoring foreign transfers and cash sales of the US dollar, which has led to improving systems, policies and procedures in accordance with international and local standards, enhancing transparency in covering foreign trade and providing protection for the banking and financial sector from the risks of money laundering, terrorist financing and financial crimes.

He announced that a meeting will be held between the officials of the Central Bank of Iraq and its international partners by the end of this year regarding the major transformation in ending the work of the electronic platform for foreign transfers and replacing it with direct banking relations between Iraqi banks and the network of international correspondent banks, according to the plan set by this bank, and implemented internationally, which will allow the Central Bank of Iraq and the Federal Reserve Bank to exercise their supervisory roles away from executive procedures, as this transformation will have important repercussions on the stability, fluidity and transparency of the country's foreign trade financing operations, indicating that it aims to achieve the required stability in exchange rates, which in turn will lead to enhancing the efficiency of the financial system in Iraq.

He pointed out that the meetings in New York City also addressed mechanisms for expanding the network of international correspondent banks and qualifying Iraqi banks to meet the necessary requirements to open their accounts with international correspondent banks, with the aim of enabling them to complete their financial transactions, whether through external transfers in US dollars or other foreign currencies.

The Central Bank announces the participation of 13 Iraqi banks in the external transfer

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The delegation of the Central Bank of Iraq in New York announced today, Friday, the participation of 13 Iraqi banks in foreign transfer operations, while indicating the currencies used.

The Central Bank's media stated, in a statement received by "Al-Eqtisad News", that "this announcement came after reaching an agreement on the mechanisms for regulating these operations, as it will include dealing in the euro, Chinese yuan, Indian rupee, and Emirati dirham."

He stressed, "Determining the scope of work of the international auditing company E&Y, which will review the transfer operations to ensure their safety and compliance with international standards. This step is a reflection of the Central Bank of Iraq's commitment to achieving the highest levels of transparency and security in all foreign transfer operations, and enhancing confidence in the Iraqi financial system."

The statement indicated that "this initiative came within the framework of the ongoing efforts of the Central Bank of Iraq to support economic growth and expand the horizons of international cooperation with global markets."

Parliamentary Finance Committee reveals the truth about government spending exceeding the "red lines"

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What about cash?

The Parliamentary Finance Committee revealed, today, Wednesday, August 28, 2024, the truth about government spending from the financial budget exceeding the red lines by spending more money than its allocated amount.

Committee member Jamal Kojer told Baghdad Today, "Government spending did not cross the red lines, because basically there is no government spending so far and no money has been spent according to what was stated in the budget law for this year."

He explained that "the delay in government spending as planned in the budget law is perhaps due to a lack of liquidity or a delay in approving the budget and the problems that occurred in its schedules."

Koger said, "There are a number of issues that led to stopping government spending and keeping only salaries."

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Finance has denied on more than one occasion the existence of a liquidity problem to secure employees’ salaries and other operating expenses.

Why doesn't Iraq rely on the World Bank to overcome the "dollar crisis"? An expert answers

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Today, Friday (August 30, 2024), the expert in economic and financial affairs, Nabil Jabbar Al-Tamimi, commented on the possibility of the World Bank helping Iraq develop its economic and financial situation and solve the remittance crisis.

Al-Tamimi said in an interview with Baghdad Today, "The World Bank is an international banking financial institution affiliated with the United Nations, but it is subject to special management related to the influence of some countries according to their banking contributions, as its tasks are limited to investment financing for countries, providing international loans, and managing projects according to its international banking conditions."

He pointed out that "Iraq is currently working extensively with one of the World Bank institutions with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to develop a group of sectors, including the transportation and airports sectors," explaining that "the World Bank, as an important international and financial institution and a UN institution at the same time, works with Iraq and other countries in the fields of lending and providing technical consultations, as well as providing Iraq with economic data and analyses within the limits of its work."

The expert in economic and financial affairs stressed that "it is not within the World Bank's jurisdiction to intervene in the issues facing Iraq, especially with regard to the remittance crisis, local banking failures, or weak procedures to protect funds from suspicions of money laundering and financing terrorism."

According to specialists, Iraq has more than (70) banks, approximately five of which are governmental and the remaining number are private banks, but Iraq relies heavily on financial transfers, especially with regard to the dollar, to various foreign banks, due to the failure of Iraqi private banks to arrange their legal and technical situations in the issue of financial correspondence.

Earlier, Alia Nassif, a member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, revealed that the Iraqi-Jordanian National Bank had obtained $3.6 billion from the currency auction during the first three months of the current year, which enabled it to obtain a profit of about 40 billion dinars.

Famous "pessimistic" economist: Iraq is suffering from financial difficulties and the government resorts to borrowing from banks

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Economic expert Nabil Al-Marsoumi revealed, today, Friday (August 30, 2024), that Iraq is suffering from financial difficulties due to the significant growth in public expenditures, which reached 41% during the first half of 2024.

Al-Marsoumi wrote in a post on his personal account on the Facebook platform, which was followed by Baghdad Today, that "the recent government decisions regarding attempts to seize the financial resources of oil companies and maximize non-oil revenues by raising customs duties on the import of some goods and trying to raise tax revenues indicate that the government is actually suffering from financial difficulties due to the significant growth in public expenditures, which amounted to 41% during the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, while the growth in government revenues did not exceed 20%."

He added, "The government resorted to borrowing 7 trillion dinars from government and commercial banks and issuing bonds worth 3 trillion dinars to cover the actual budget deficit, which rose to 8 trillion dinars in the first half of 2024, which raised the size of the domestic debt to 86 trillion dinars."

Al-Marsoumi pointed out that "the situation will become more difficult and government revenues will decrease in light of the noticeable decline in oil prices and Iraq's commitments to OPEC Plus restrictions, which if Iraq actually adheres to them, will reduce the production level to 4 million barrels per day and to 3.850 million barrels per day starting next September to compensate for Iraq's production in excess of its production quota, which will reduce its oil exports to 3.3 million barrels, while the planned number in the budget is 3.5 million barrels per day, while Iraq will increase its imports of petroleum derivatives as a result of Iraq's agreement to reduce its domestic consumption of crude oil from 570 thousand barrels per day to 500 thousand barrels per day."

Methodology for evaluating investment activity and the attractiveness of agricultural investment in Iraq

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Dr. Aqil Al-Mohammadawi

The process of economic regulation of the state for investment activity is of strategic importance and priority, and it is necessary to develop measures to improve it according to the targeted economic priority for sustainable economic growth in the agricultural sector in market conditions based on the use of targeted approaches in integrated programs that are consistent with the economic renaissance orientations of the government’s executive economic and service programs and improving infrastructure.

Often, the scientific literature provides many interpretations of the concept of methodology, and methodology is interpreted in two senses: as a system of methods and as a theory of the method of study or a method of working methods.

But this previously widely held point of view is beginning to be challenged. For example, V. Kutsenko disagrees with the interpretation of methodology as a doctrine of methods and a system of methods and defines it as a system of principles for the formation and practical application of methods of knowledge and transformation of reality. If the methodological approach determines the strategic guidelines of future research, then methodological generalization involves either enriching the theoretical base of science in a particular branch of knowledge, or concentrated material for decision-making in the practice of production or management and is already the result of the completed study.

In our opinion, the methodological approach is to determine the principles of selection of relevant investment instruments, as well as to consider the proposed sectoral product sub-complexes of the agro-industrial complex as an effective and sustainable investment model as more viable or more attractive projects for effective and sustainable investment.

It is advisable to present the assessment of investment attractiveness of the food sub-complex of the agro-industrial complex in groups of indicators characterizing the most important components of the investment mechanism. These blocks are:

- Evaluation of the production potential of the food sub-complex of the agro-industrial complex;

- Status of the sub-complex of the industry product;

- Developing the marketing capabilities of the products of the industrial complex of the agricultural industrial complex.

Improving investment activities in agriculture should meet the following requirements:

- Ensuring sustainable development, increasing the efficiency of agricultural production, and achieving food security for the country;

- Increase the attractiveness of investment in the industry for external investors;

- Strengthening government intervention in regulating agriculture.

Improving investment activities in agriculture should meet the following requirements:

- Ensuring sustainable development, increasing the efficiency of agricultural production, and achieving food security for the country;

- Increase the attractiveness of investment in the industry for external investors;

- Strengthening government intervention in regulating agriculture and the food industry and organizing effective partnership by targeting the growth of foreign production when achieving the optimal degree of interaction in this process with the free market;

- Creating incentives for introducing scientific and technological progress, and reducing production costs;

- Ensure relatively equal starting opportunities for expanding production for all agricultural producers;

- Forming a marketing strategy for agricultural production based on a mixed economy;

- Stimulating rational allocation and specialization in agricultural production;

- Strengthening environmental protection and environmental protection in the field of agriculture;

- Creating stable conditions between industries in the agricultural sector by overcoming the disparity in prices of industrial and agricultural products.

One specific form of implementation of these requirements is the improvement of the economic mechanism in agriculture, which should be implemented on the basis of the following principles:

- construction of individual elements of the economic mechanism on a unified methodological (cost) basis;

- Using a programmatic approach aimed at improving the economic mechanism in order to ensure its sustainable operation and the performance of its inherent functions through each economic lever;

- Adopting an integrated approach when implementing measures to improve the economic mechanism in order to ensure its close interaction in the process of economic regulation of investment activities in agriculture.

At the same time, the implementation of the targeted approach of the program assumes the need to use a system of forecasting and planning of agricultural production in market conditions, the use of an integrated approach - the optimal interaction of prices, taxes, credit and other factors of the reproductive process in the agricultural sector.

Objectivity and reliability in evaluating the effectiveness of investment projects

In the agricultural sector it is presented on the basis of: determining the costs and benefits of the project; measuring the costs and benefits; determining the duration of the project life cycle; choosing the discount rate; determining the price level; justifying the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the project.

Investments in their economic movement pass through three stages of circulation and take the appropriate functional forms. At each stage, production and circulation processes occur simultaneously, the value of capital increases, forms of ownership change, and so on.

In the first stage of circulation, the monetary form of capital value turns into work on creating or rebuilding the organization, and in the form of capital value - into the main means of production.

At the second stage of turnover, the production consumption of created (modern) production facilities (fixed assets) and the formation of finished products is carried out, which accumulate a value that is already greater than the cost of consumed fixed and working assets (at the same time, the process of repayment of investments in capital costs is carried out).

At the third stage of the turnover, products are sold, and investment investments are returned from the commodity form to their original monetary form. At the same time, the value continues to increase, because the work of workers in selling products creates new value. Hence, at all stages of investment turnover, a change in the forms of value and the creation of new value occurs.

It seems important to use the investment turnover index in economic research and practice and practical applicability. The methodology is important to develop and implement an indicator that expresses the full investment turnover rate in the long term. This indicator is the investment turnover index, which is calculated by the ratio of the operating volume of fixed production assets and the corresponding investments.

As a general rule, investment abroad is evaluated in relation to the macroeconomic sphere.

In some countries, such as Japan, descriptive investment methods prevail.

Attractiveness without any quantitative assessment. However, the most common studies are those in which economic indicators are expressed in numerical values. In the United States, a method is used that takes into account various factors of investment attractiveness, on the basis of which the "Annual Statistical Map" is published for all states. It includes four general indicators of the investment climate: economic efficiency of investments, business feasibility, development potential of the territory, and components of tax policy.

I can't find this anywhere else though so maybe it's old???

Iraqi faction bombs US base with drone, Pentagon says we will respond

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Iraqi faction bombs US base with drone, Pentagon says we will respond

Arab media reported on Thursday evening that an Iraqi faction attacked a US military base in the Syrian province of Deir Ezzor.

Al Jazeera reported in a breaking news report, citing sources affiliated with an Iraqi faction, that it carried out an attack with a “drone on an American base in Deir ez-Zor, Syria.”

For its part, the US Department of Defense (Neptune) confirmed that it reserves the right to respond at the time and place of its choosing if its forces are subjected to any attack, whether in Iraq or Syria.

Iraq called off one million barrel shipment in a bid to match OPEC regulations: Reuters

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Iraq plans to lower its oil output to in between 3.85 million and 3.9 million barrels each day in September as part of a strategy to make up for producing over its quota concurred with OPEC and allies, Reuters quoted a source on Thursday.

The plan comes just as Libyan oil production drops due to a. political conflict in between various factions.

The declines will tighten the oil market ahead of a prepared. output boost by OPEC and its allies - called OPEC+ - from. October to begin loosening up some production cuts.

Iraq produced about 4.25 million barrels each day (bpd) in. July, according to the Company of the Petroleum Exporting. Countries, mentioning secondary sources. That is above its quota of. 4 million bpd.

The oil ministry had actually sent a strategy to OPEC to compensate. for the overproduction between this month and September next. year. Iraq's cumulative overproduction between January and July. was 1.4 million bpd, OPEC said recently.

Iraq cancelled a spot cargo of 1 million barrels in August. to reduce its exports throughout the month, the source said.

There were quotes for the freight however it was removed the. market, the source said, adding two more freights of the exact same. size will be deferred from August to September.

Baghdad plans to reduce its output from September onwards by. cutting exports to 3.3 million bpd or lower, from 3.43 million. bpd, in addition to cutting local consumption to 500,000 bpd from. 570,000 bpd and asking the Kurdistan Regional Federal government to cut. its output to 50,000 bpd from 150,000 bpd, the source stated.

OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais was in Baghdad on. Wednesday and consulted with Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani.

OPEC stated on X that Abdel-Ghani restated Iraq's. dedication to the complete and timely implementation of production. level changes, including payment plan as agreed under. the Statement of Cooperation

Baghdad wants money from the government and has its eye on “stalled projects”: We will launch new ones - Urgent

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Baghdad Provincial Council confirmed, today, Friday (August 30, 2024), the development of important and strategic plans to develop the capital's service reality during the next phase, indicating that it is awaiting financial allocations to complete the stalled projects .

Council member Nora Al-Jahishi told Baghdad Today, “Despite its short life, the Baghdad Council has worked during the past period to activate the oversight aspect and follow up on the work of service departments in Baghdad, and there is a noticeable development in service work due to continuous and strict oversight and follow-up .”

Al-Jahishi added, "The Baghdad Council has developed an important and strategic work plan to launch projects and complete others that have been stalled for a long time, but we are waiting for the financial allocations, as they have not been released to us yet by the central government ."

The Iraqi capital, Baghdad, is witnessing a remarkable urban development on the level of main roads and vertical buildings after the relative security in the country was restored and the country opened up to investments and partnerships with Arab and Western countries .

Last year, the Ministry of Planning revealed a decrease in the number of stalled projects in Iraq, while indicating that there are more than 7,000 projects under construction .

The spokesman for the Ministry of Planning, Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi, told Baghdad Today, "There are more than 7,000 projects in Iraq with different rates of completion, and great efforts are being made to complete them within two years," noting that "the government has raised the slogan of services and interest in service projects such as school projects, hospitals, roads, and sewage networks ."

He added that "the number of stalled projects has decreased to 1,000 projects distributed across various sectors and governorates," noting that "the Prime Minister has directed that these projects be resolved during the coming and upcoming year ."

He added, "We have 73 hospitals that are lagging behind and with different rates of completion that were addressed through the Amiri order 45, and some of the suspended hospitals were completed, and about 90 percent will be completed within two years," indicating that "there are 16 new hospitals that have been included in the 2024 budget ."

Regarding the schools sector, Al-Hindawi explained that “there is a great deal of work being done to complete this sector, as the project of the thousand Chinese schools has begun, and the construction of a number of schools will be financed within the Iraq Development Fund,” noting that “nearly 40 percent of the delayed or suspended schools have been completed .”

The spokesman for the Ministry of Planning, Abdul Zahra Al-Hindawi, had previously explained to Baghdad Today the reason for the halt of most projects in Iraq, indicating that “the main reason for the halt of these projects is due to Resolution 347 issued in 2015, during the financial crisis, which led to the halt of many projects, and these projects are distributed across various sectors of transportation, communications, buildings, services, industry and agriculture, and they are at different rates of completion .”

He added, "The priority now within the current government's program is to complete service projects, most notably hospital projects, school projects, sewage projects, and water projects. By the end of next year 2024, more than 90% of these projects will be completed, especially after the approval of the budget law, and with the existence of financial allocations for the investment program ."

Has the Iraqi government controlled money laundering?

interview I stumbled upon:

Money laundering is being carried out at full speed