Economist: Jordan is the biggest beneficiary of Washington's decisions against Iraqi banks.
Economic expert, Manar Al-Obaidi, confirmed on Sunday that the US decision to restrict the operations of a large number of Iraqi banks, under the pretext of smuggling dollars to China and Iran, did not achieve its goals, but rather led to counterproductive results that increased the volume of remittances to the same countries.
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Al-Obaidi said in a tweet followed by Al-Maalomah Agency, that “the US authorities had justified their decision by the fact that a large portion of dollar sales in Iraq are directed to China, which prompted them to suspend a number of Iraqi banks from foreign transactions, while maintaining the activity of foreign banks, especially Jordanian ones.”
Al-Obaidi pointed out that "official figures reveal a clear contradiction in this proposal, as the volume of imports in the first quarter of 2025 amounted to about $4 billion, compared to $3.2 billion in the first quarter of 2023, i.e. before the restrictions were imposed on Iraqi banks."
He continued, “What actually happened was the exclusion of Iraqi banks from external financial activity, while the field was widely opened to foreign banks, especially Jordanian ones, which rushed to expand in the Iraqi market and benefit from the remittance movement.”
Al-Obaidi concluded by saying, “It seems that the issue is not related to trade or monetary policy, but rather to international relations for which the issue of dollar smuggling was used as a cover, which allowed foreign banks to control the Iraqi market, without changing the beneficiaries or the transfer directions.”
Al-Nusairi: Comprehensive banking reform means modernizing and developing banks, ensuring their compliance with international standards, and transitioning to a rapidly growing economy.
Economic and banking advisor Samir Al-Nusairi confirmed that the banking reform project launched by the Central Bank last month in cooperation with the government and the global consulting firm Oliver Wyman was held at a ceremony attended by the Prime Minister.
Al-Nusairi said in a televised interview followed by "Al-Eqtisad News" that the banking reform project aims primarily, within the specified timeframes, to modernize and develop the private banking sector, comply with international standards, transition to a rapidly growing national economy, expand digital transformation, enhance financial inclusion, stimulate electronic payments, strengthen cybersecurity, use artificial intelligence to analyze and ensure the transparency of banking data, create a financial center, and authorize and license digital banks. He added that it achieves stimulating and sustainable returns for investors, creates a fair competitive environment in the banking market, and restores confidence in the banking sector.
He explained that the private banking sector achieved good business results in 2024, despite 50% of our banks being subject to sanctions and restrictions on the use of the US dollar. The ratio of credit granted to deposits reached 67.9%, which means the banks are moving towards the real work of financing and investing in deposits. The banks’ capital rose to 20 trillion dinars, an increase of 8.7% due to the implementation of the Central Bank’s instructions to raise capital to 400 billion dinars and setting September 30, 2025 as the deadline for increasing the capital of the remaining banks.
Al-Nusairi pointed out that the objectives set for banking reform are in line with the main and sub-objectives of the Central Bank's third strategy for the years 2024-2026, which comprises 7 main objectives, 24 sub-objectives, and 75 initiatives to achieve these objectives. The Central Bank's management is working to implement them in accordance with approved policies and programs and in cooperation with relevant authorities.
Al-Sudani will head to Kirkuk to inaugurate the largest oil refinery.
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An informed source in Kirkuk Governorate revealed on Saturday that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani intends to visit the governorate this week to lay the foundation stone for the largest investment oil refinery in Kirkuk and inaugurate several service and development projects.
The source said, "The visit is expected to take place within the next two days, starting on Monday, and will include the inauguration of the Kirkuk investment refinery project, which is the largest of its kind in the governorate, in addition to the inauguration of other projects in various sectors."
He added, "During his visit, the Prime Minister will meet with officials from the North Oil Company to review the progress of work and follow up on the details of the joint contract between the company and its British counterpart (BP), in addition to discussing ways to develop the energy infrastructure in the governorate."
This visit comes within the framework of the federal government's efforts to support investment in the energy sector and enhance economic development in oil-producing governorates.
The Foreign Minister arrives in Riyadh on an official visit.
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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Fuad Hussein, arrived in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Sunday, May 4, 2025, on an official visit aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and continuing consultation and coordination between the two brotherly countries.
The Minister was received upon arrival by Deputy Foreign Minister Walid bin Abdul Karim Al-Khuraiji and the Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ms. Safiya Talib Al-Suhail.
Mr. Fuad Hussein is scheduled to meet with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, to discuss ways to strengthen relations between Iraq and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in addition to discussing regional and international developments, the challenges facing the region, and ways to support joint Arab action.
Parliament under the microscope: a significant decline in performance and fear of the future
Poor legislative and oversight performance has become a constant feature of the House of Representatives, with political disputes becoming the dominant feature of the chamber's work. The crisis surrounding the presidency has continued for nearly a year, while important and controversial laws have disrupted a large number of its sessions, further fueling criticism of its performance.
In this context, the head of the Parliamentary Observatory, Mazhar Al-Saadi, revealed figures on Sunday showing a significant decline in parliament's participation during the current legislative session compared to its predecessor, expressing his concerns about the upcoming parliamentary session in light of the population census.
Al-Saadi said in a televised interview, "We are now in the first legislative session of the fourth legislative year. We are 10 days away from the end of this session, and Parliament has only held six sessions out of 32, which is a violation of the parliament's internal regulations." He emphasized that "this is a major problem that must be addressed."
“When we make a quick comparison between the current session and the previous one, the third, we find a big difference in performance, as the number of sessions was 73 compared to 46 in the current session, the first reading of the draft laws was 69 compared to 58, the second reading was 62 compared to 36, the number of laws voted on was 57 laws compared to 21 laws, and the total attendance rate was 203 compared to 188 MPs,” he added, indicating that “the current legislative session had an average attendance rate of 173 MPs, meaning there were more than 145 MPs who did not attend the sessions.”
He stressed that “there is great fear about the next parliamentary session in light of the results of the population census, as we currently have 329 representatives, and these can be controlled. However, in the next electoral session, their number will be, according to the population census, 455 representatives, to which will be added the growth factor for the current year, as in the statistics agency, i.e., approximately one million people, meaning 10 representatives will be added, so the number of representatives will become 465 to 460 representatives,” stressing that “this is according to the constitutional text.”
He continued, "There are approximately 130 additional MPs, and with the current number, there are approximately 145 MPs absent, so how will it be in the next session?" He emphasized the need for "great strength and rigor in the Parliament Presidency's implementation of the law and internal regulations."
Parliament is scheduled to hold two consecutive sessions on Monday and Tuesday, but their agenda is devoid of any important laws.
Parliament sessions are currently suspended due to the absence of a number of MPs, amid criticism of the presidency for failing to implement the parliament's internal regulations and take strict measures to ensure the smooth running of sessions and prevent the disruption of parliamentary convenings.
Since the beginning of the parliamentary session in January 2022, the Iraqi Council of Representatives has held only 132 sessions, while the internal regulations stipulate 256 sessions annually. The internal regulations also stipulate eight sessions per month and a four-month legislative term, with 32 sessions per term.
Since the launch of Parliament's fifth session, the legislative institution has faced significant challenges, most notably sharp divisions among political blocs and a lack of consensus on major issues. This has negatively impacted legislative and oversight performance. The dominance of certain influential parties over Parliament's decisions has also weakened its role and diminished public confidence in its effectiveness, particularly with the repeated disruption of sessions and the absence of reform laws. This has prompted a number of MPs to propose dissolving Parliament as an entry point for rebuilding the political landscape along new lines.
On April 15, independent MP Raed al-Maliki accused political parties and an employee in Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office of disrupting parliament sessions with the aim of thwarting the inclusion of the electoral law amendment on the agenda. He held the parliament speaker and the heads of political blocs responsible for the situation.
Parliament has recently been embroiled in a struggle to establish a number of new governorates, similar to the one for Halabja, which was voted on by parliament on the 14th of last month. The controversy surrounding this new governorate is ongoing, as it was created illegally due to a lack of quorum.
The Sadiqoun parliamentary bloc also announced its intention to move to dismiss the Speaker of Parliament due to the "improper management of today's session." MP Amir Al-Maamouri threatened, during a press conference, to resort to the Federal Court to challenge the session.
On March 9, independent MP Hussein al-Saabari announced plans to dissolve the Iraqi parliament and hold early elections if its sessions continue to be disrupted.
The dissolution of Parliament in Iraq is subject to Article 64 of the Iraqi Constitution, which stipulates that Parliament may be dissolved in one of two ways: either at the request of the Prime Minister and with the approval of the Speaker of Parliament, or at the request of one-third of Parliament members, subject to a majority vote.
The suspension of parliamentary sessions has been met with a barrage of political and parliamentary criticism, with the parliament's presidency deeming the move unjustified, particularly given the number of laws already up for vote that require parliament sessions to enact them. The most prominent of these laws are the Mobilization and Budget Law, the Civil Service Law, the Salary Scale Law, the Trade Union Law, and the decision on the trial system.
Attempts to pass any law by Parliament take a long time due to the frequent debates and disagreements that often arise over the interests, orientations, and ethnic and sectarian affiliations of the parties represented in Parliament.
The delay in passing several important laws is likely to weaken the legislative and oversight role of the House of Representatives, according to political observers. They criticize the parliament's resort to political consensus, which has led to the postponement of important laws highly anticipated by the Iraqi public.
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The Minister of Finance breaks her silence on the withdrawal of tax deposits
Finance Minister Taif Sami explained, on Sunday (May 4, 2025), the mechanism for withdrawing tax deposits and converting them into final revenues.
Sami said in a statement to the official agency, followed by "Baghdad Today", that "the special account for tax deposits opened at the Central Bank of Iraq in the name of the Ministry of Finance, Accounting Department, which concerns the amounts collected from taxpayers, most of which are considered final revenue for the state treasury (tax revenues) according to the applicable laws," indicating that "these amounts are temporarily deposited in an intermediate account, which is the (tax deposits) account, until the final tax accounting procedures are completed by the taxpayers and the General Tax Authority."
She added, "In light of this, it is determined whether the tax accounting is equal to the amount paid by him as deposits, the deposit amounts are reflected in the final revenue. However, if the tax accounting is greater than the amount paid, the taxpayer pays the difference to the public treasury. However, if the tax accounting is less than the amount paid by the taxpayer, the difference is returned to the taxpayer."
She continued, "All remaining amounts are reflected in this account after completing the tax accounting as a final revenue for the state treasury (tax revenues)," noting that "withdrawing tax deposit amounts is a normal procedure according to Cabinet Resolution No. (294) of 2025, as these amounts are considered final revenue for the state treasury as the final result of tax accounting."
The Cabinet resolution, in its 15th regular session held on 4/15/2025, included approval to authorize the Minister of Finance to withdraw tax deposit amounts that are less than five years old, amounting to (3,045,007,500,252) dinars, to finance and pay the salaries of April and subsequent months deposited in the Ministry of Finance's account at the Central Bank of Iraq (70019), which it will deposit later according to the state's overall need, provided that the cash settlement is made monthly when requested by reversing the deposit amount from the actual revenues collected monthly when conducting the tax accounting.
The Minister of Finance explained that "the procedure is normal to maximize resource revenues and control them of all kinds," indicating that "most taxpayers do not visit the departments to complete their tax accounting dues, with the aim of evading the imposed tax."
She stressed that "the ministry has lists of the names, numbers and amounts of taxpayers and companies that owe money at the General Tax Authority and the Accounting Department, to refer to in the event that taxpayers visit the Authority."
Sami pointed out that “the remaining amounts reflect:
1- Upon receipt of amounts from taxpayers before the final settlement (estimation of the tax amount) from the bank account to the tax deposit account (taxpayer)
2- Upon final settlement with the taxpayer:
A- If the final tax settlement amount is equal to the amount of deposits paid, the entry shall be
as follows:
From the tax deposit account (taxpayer)
to the final revenue account (tax revenue)
B- If the final tax settlement amount is greater than the amount paid as deposits, the taxpayer shall pay the difference as a final revenue to the state treasury according to the following entry:
From the bank account (difference amount) From the taxpayer
to the final revenue account (tax revenue).
She added, "The amounts of tax deposits paid by the taxpayer are reflected as final revenue according to the following entry:
From the account / tax deposits (taxpayer)
To the account / Tax revenues
C - If the final tax settlement is less than the amount paid by the taxpayer, the difference amount shall be returned to the taxpayer and the remaining amount shall be reflected in the final revenue according to the following compound entry:
From the account / Tax deposits (the taxpayer)
To the aforementioned
account / Final revenue (Tax revenues)
account / Bank The difference that shall be returned to the taxpayer)
The Council of Ministers decided in its fifteenth regular session held on 4/15/2025 to approve the following:
1- Authorizing the Minister of Finance to withdraw the amounts of tax deposits that are not more than five years old, amounting to (3,045,007,500,252) dinars, to finance and pay the salaries of the month of April and subsequent months deposited in the Ministry of Finance’s account at the Central Bank of Iraq (70019), which it will deposit later according to the need for the total state, provided that the cash settlement is carried out monthly when requested by reversing the amount of deposits from the actual revenues collected monthly when conducting the tax settlement.
2- The ministries, entities not affiliated with a ministry, governorates and governorate councils shall implement the contents of the Ministry of Finance's circular No. (36) S/357 dated 4/8/2025 (attached), for the purpose of expediting tax accounting and settlement procedures within a maximum of (10) days starting from the date of issuance of this decision.
3- Holding accountable those who fail to implement the provisions of the Income Tax Law (113 of 1982 as amended) and delaying the settlement of financial liabilities resulting from the delay in tax accounting and financing all tax revenue amounts and the amount of tax deposit settlement on a timely basis.
4- The General Tax Authority shall impose the fines stipulated in the provisions of paragraph (4) of Article (56) of the aforementioned Income Tax Law.
Government advisor: Artificial intelligence is the most powerful driver of the global economy.
Iraq's entry into the world of artificial intelligence requires advanced and diverse technical training, coupled with an advanced physical and digital infrastructure and a legal infrastructure that protects successful operations related to AI-based applications. AI is also one of the most promising technologies for improving productivity and efficiency in several fields. Financial Advisor to the Prime Minister, Dr. Mazhar Mohammed Salih, said: "When we work toward enabling AI to play its role in the renaissance of economies, including the Iraqi economy, this requires specific conditions, foremost among which is the availability of a modern and advanced infrastructure that is compatible with AI applications and that can expand to cover the needs of a wide range of productive sectors."
Reducing errors
Saleh added in an interview with “Al Sabah” “We know that agriculture undoubtedly needs specialized material and human foundations that help artificial intelligence devices to detect desertification, water shortages, agricultural pests and harvest seasons. We find artificial intelligence important in the medical field, especially in improving medical services and analyzing patient data to reduce errors and diagnose diseases early, in addition to its importance in various fields of education, which requires the development of interactive educational content that is compatible with the needs of students and the labor market in our country, which annually receives half a million
New job opportunity.
Oil projects
He pointed to the role of artificial intelligence in developing oil projects and improving efficiency in extraction and refining through data analysis, predicting failures, and other aspects of oil field operations, production, transportation, and distribution.
He stated that Iraq's entry into the world of artificial intelligence requires advanced and diverse technical training preparations, coupled with an advanced physical and digital infrastructure and a legal infrastructure that protects successful operations from the uses arising from artificial intelligence itself. This is what the government's curriculum is rapidly implementing through the development of education and training curricula at various levels and the implementation of legislative adaptations.
Quality and productivity
He pointed out that there will be short-term negative impacts, as many traditional jobs will be replaced by high-quality, productive thinking machines in the short term, which will place a burden on the social protection system on the one hand, and the cost of changing training and development curricula in a technical field, which will enable them to integrate into the highly technological labor market, especially in the long term, which will undoubtedly raise production efficiency and productivity in all areas of work, and is a highly advanced and prosperous development factor that start-ups, the business sector, and others aspire to.
global output
Saleh noted that international indicators confirm that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is undoubtedly one of the most important and powerful drivers of the global economy in the coming years. Investments in AI are expected to add approximately 17 percent of the value added to global GDP, above traditional levels of that global GDP.
Reducing costs
He explained that artificial intelligence is the major means of supporting entrepreneurship, reducing costs for startups, and significantly accelerating investment opportunities. At the same time, it improves work quality by automating tiring or dangerous tasks to achieve the best outcomes and results, or to make important decisions related to developing functional and productive work.
Production forecasting
For his part, former Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Mahdi Al-Qaisi, said: "Artificial intelligence is one of the most promising technologies for improving productivity and efficiency in the agricultural sector. It is being employed in agriculture through the implementation of agricultural data analysis, including predicting crop yields, reducing the use of pesticides and fertilizers, and investigating, detecting, and controlling plant pests and diseases to improve productivity."
water resources
He explained that artificial intelligence monitors climate change and is also used in precision agriculture, which includes soil analysis and fertility surveys using remote sensing technologies. Artificial intelligence systems are also applied to analyze water consumption and irrigation efficiency, and provide recommendations for water resource management. Dr. Al-Qaisi added that geographic information systems include satellite image analysis, the use of imaging technologies, monitoring changes in agricultural land, land management, and the use of geographic data to improve agricultural land management and plan for the optimal use of space.
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