Iraq Increases Its Gold Reserves By 10 Tons
Money and business Economy News – Baghdad The World Gold Council announced on Wednesday that Iraq has increased its reserves of the precious metal by 10 tons.
According to the latest schedule published by the Council in March, which was reviewed by Al-Eqtisad News, “Iraq increased its gold holdings by 10 tons, bringing its holdings to 162.7 tons, after it was 152.7 tons last month, which represents 13.6% of its remaining reserves.”
He added, “Iraq reached the 28th rank on the list out of 100 countries included in the table,” indicating that “Iraq came in fourth place in the Arab world after Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Algeria.”
The Council pointed out that “the United States of America tops the list of countries with the largest gold holdings in the world, with 8,133 thousand tons, followed by Germany with 3,351 thousand tons, then Italy with 2,451 thousand tons, while Iceland came in last with 2 tons.”
Increasing gold reserves means increasing the amount of gold held by the state or the central bank as a financial reserve, in order to enhance financial security and the ability to confront economic or financial crises.
The World Gold Council is headquartered in the United Kingdom, has extensive experience and deep knowledge of the factors that cause market change, and its members consist of the largest and most advanced gold mining companies in the world. https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=53153
Oil: Negotiations With An American Company To Develop The Oil Side Of The Nahr Bin Omar Field
Energy Economy News – Baghdad The Ministry of Oil announced, on Wednesday, that there are negotiations with the American company Halliburton to develop the Nahr Bin Omar field in Basra.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil for Extraction Affairs, Basem Mohammed Khader, said in a statement reported by the official news agency, and seen by “Al-Eqtisad News”, that “the Nahr Bin Omar field is an oil and gas field, as the contract for the gas was signed and the contracting company began its work.”
He pointed out that “there are negotiations with the American company Halliburton to develop the oil side of the field, in line with the gas investment project in the Bin Omar River.”
He explained that “the gas project aims to produce about 300 million standard cubic feet per day, in two phases,” stressing that “the establishment of gas facilities requires a long time, and the minimum period for their establishment and operation is estimated at about three years.” https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=53161
Basra Oil Falls By More Than 2%
Wednesday 05 March 2025 09:12 | Economic Number of readings: 266 Baghdad / NINA / The prices of Basra heavy and medium crude oils continued to decline by more than 2%.
The prices of Basra heavy crude fell by $2.11, equivalent to 2.96%, to reach $79, while the prices of Basra medium crude fell by $2.11, equivalent to 2.84%, to reach $72.12.
Brent crude today recorded a decrease of 31 cents and reached $70.076 per barrel, and the US Texas crude also recorded a decrease of 64 cents to reach $67.63 per barrel. / End https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=1190089
Government Advisor: Iraq Development Fund Targeted 6 Key Sectors
Mohammed Al-Najjar Construction and reconstruction Economy News – Baghdad On Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s Advisor for Investment Affairs, Mohammed Al-Najjar, explained the strategy adopted by the Iraq Development Fund to ensure the implementation of projects efficiently and transparently, while pointing to the role of international auditing companies in this context.
Al-Najjar said in a statement reported by the official news agency, and reviewed by “Economy News”, that “the Iraq Development Fund targeted 6 main sectors in its investments, and these sectors were chosen because they represent Iraq’s crises, as we invest in housing, education, digital transformation, smart industry, smart agriculture, and the environment, and each unit of them is a major crisis, and the fund turns this crisis into commercial and economic opportunities that investors benefit from to help us find sustainable solutions to it.”
He added, “Every project launched by the Fund looks at a set of criteria. The first criterion is the amount of employment created by these projects, and there are two types of employment: employment during implementation and employment after operation.”
“As for industry, we expect 30 to 40 percent of the materials that will be used to be locally made,” he continued, explaining that “now we can provide part of the iron and a large percentage of the cement locally, while most of the remaining materials are imported.
We hope that by launching these major projects, they will be transformed and there will be a great need to establish these factories, and we, as a fund, are now supporting the establishment of a ceramic factory, a brick factory, factories that support our industry, and factories for school trips, among others.”
He pointed out that “the fund is audited in three aspects, including the presence of a body that submits separate reports from the executive management to the board of directors, and this process is managed by an international company, and there is another company that audits the fund’s operations, which is like accounting, and this is also another company different from the first, and thirdly, there is the Financial Control Bureau that conducts the local audit of what we do.”
He pointed out that “the fund works within global standards and governance, the aim of which is to find or create a fund capable of being a repository for foreign investments when they enter Iraq,”
noting that “Iraq’s previous and current laws do not qualify it to bring direct investments into state departments and so on because they are not compatible with the world, and in the fund, its establishment and governance, we made them compatible with the laws of the world.” https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=53163
The Annual Inflation In Iraq Decreased To 2.8%
Economics Shafaq News/ The Central Bank of Iraq announced today, Wednesday, the decrease in the country’s annual inflation to 2.8%. The bank said in a statement received by Shafaq News, that
“the annual inflation decreased in Iraq from 4% to the fourth semester of 2023 to 2.8% for the same semester of 2024.” He added that
“the basic inflation also decreased from 4.5% for the fourth semester of 2023 to 2.5% for the same semester of 2024.” He pointed out that
“general and basic inflation falls at acceptable rates, and
this reflects the price stability and the success of monetary policy in Iraq.”
Iraq witnessed fluctuations in inflation rates during the past years.
Future expectations vary; Where reports in October 2024 reported the expectations of the International Monetary Fund, a slight increase in the inflation index in Iraq to 3.5% in 2025, with a decrease to 3% by 2029.
The low inflation means a decrease in the increase in the annual price of goods and services, which enhances the purchasing power of citizens and reflects economic stability. https://shafaq.com/ar/اقتصـاد/انخفاض-التضخم-السنوي-في-العراق-لى-2-8
For current and reliable Iraqi news please visit: https://www.bondladyscorner.com/
