Sudani Advisor: Iraq Is Making International Progress And Reducing Pressure On The Dollar.
July 29, 2025 Baghdad/Iraq Observer The Prime Minister’s financial advisor, Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, confirmed on Tuesday that the expansion of electronic transactions has contributed to reducing speculation and unreal demand for the dollar, which has lowered its price on the parallel market. He also indicated that reliance on digital payment tools has led to a decline in the volume of cash dollar trading.
“The expansion of the use of bank cards and electronic transactions has contributed to reducing the margin of speculation and the unreal demand for the dollar, especially after linking transfers and trade finance operations to digital data and pre-verification of documents, such as the advance customs declaration,”
Saleh said in a press statement monitored by the Iraq Observer. He explained that “citizens’ reliance on digital payment tools, both locally and during foreign travel, has led to a decline in the volume of cash circulation in dollars outside the official system.”
Saleh explained that “this has begun to have positive impacts at the international level, given Iraq’s membership in the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF),
a regional organization established in 2004 that works to combat
money laundering,
terrorist financing, and the
proliferation of weapons in the region,
in line with the forty recommendations issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris.”
He pointed out that “Iraq, through its digital advancements, has made tangible progress, particularly with enhanced compliance with the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force and international compliance practices.
This has positively impacted Iraq’s current stable credit ratings and opened up broader horizons for better engagement with global correspondent banks, as we can see from the decline in the dollar exchange rate against the official rate in the parallel market in recent months.”
He emphasized that “modern electronic technology can be leveraged in Iraq through three complementary paths, the most important of which, based on the government’s program, is the digital transformation of public finances and economic governance, which includes several directions, including:
automating taxes and customs to maximize non-oil revenues,
digitizing government contracts, and
distributing support to eligible groups, in addition to
enhancing transparency and
combating corruption through the presence of a digital fingerprint for every transaction .”
Regarding innovation and small business technology, Saleh noted that “digital technology development paths are taking on more modern dimensions, most notably supporting digital entrepreneurship, such as
e-commerce,
delivery apps,
distance learning, and others.
This also includes funding startups in the fields of
artificial intelligence,
smart agriculture, and
solar energy, in addition to
building digital platforms for vocational training and market access.” He added,
“There is a trend toward a transition to a data and knowledge economy in close conjunction,
through the establishment of national data centers,
the use of artificial intelligence in planning,
and the enhancement of internet infrastructure and the achievement of equitable access to it in accordance with global standards for digital justice, while emphasizing the importance of supporting the higher education sector towards digital and technical specializations.”
He pointed out that “these trends will undoubtedly contribute to
creating sustainable jobs,
reducing operating costs, and increasing the productivity of the national economy in a promising digital era for Iraq.” https://observeriraq.net/مستشار-للسوداني-العراق-يحقق-تقدماً-دو/
Gold Continues To Soar… Where Will It Reach In 2026?
Stock Exchange Analysts expect gold prices to remain above $3,000 per ounce in the coming period, supported by increased demand for safe-haven assets amid rising concerns related to global trade and worsening sovereign debt levels.
A Reuters poll of 40 analysts and traders showed that the median forecast for the gold price in 2025 is $3,220 per ounce, compared to $3,065 in the April poll, while the estimate for 2026 rose to $3,400 from $3,000 previously.
Spot gold prices have risen 27% since the beginning of this year, reaching a record high of $3,500 per ounce in April, amid escalating trade tensions between the United States and China, which prompted investors to seek safe havens.
David Russell, marketing director at Goldcore, said: “The first half of 2025 has confirmed what we have long believed; Gold is not just a hedge, it’s a market signal,” he said, predicting that the price could reach $4,000 by the end of 2026 if concerns about the US financial situation worsen.
Gold’s appeal as a safe haven has been heightened by uncertainty over the deadlines for major US trade agreements, as well as financial concerns sparked by US President Donald Trump’s passage of a massive bill dubbed the “Big, Beautiful Act,” which independent analysts expect will add $3.3 trillion to the US national debt.
However, gold has failed to recapture its April peak, with Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke saying the “short-term sideways movement is likely to continue in the absence of an immediate catalyst to push prices higher.”
Most analysts believe that central banks remain the main driver of gold’s rise, as part of their long-term efforts to diversify their reserves away from the dollar’s dominance. China has continued to boost its gold reserves for the eighth consecutive month, while a European Central Bank survey showed that nearly 40% of central banks consider geopolitical risks a key reason for holding gold.
“The multipolar world continues, and with it, central banks’ desire to reduce their reliance on the US dollar as a reserve currency and, in extreme cases, reduce their exposure to US sanctions,” Minke said.
Silver prices have jumped 32% since the beginning of 2025, outperforming gold and approaching the $40 per ounce barrier for the first time in 14 years.
Analysts revised their 2025 silver price forecast to $34.52 per ounce, up from $33.10 in the previous survey, supported by concerns about US tariff policies, signs of tight supply in the spot market, and increased investor appetite for silver as an alternative to gold.
For 2026, the median forecast rose to $38 per ounce from $34.58 previously.
Suki Cooper, an analyst at Standard Chartered, said that most of these gains were the result of strong inflows into exchange-traded products, warning that a slowdown in this momentum could leave silver vulnerable to a decline despite expectations of a new market deficit this year. https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=58029
The Dollar Exchange Rate Remains Stable In Baghdad.
Economy | 07/29/2025 Mawazine News – Baghdad – The dollar exchange rate witnessed remarkable stability against the dinar in local markets on Tuesday.
The selling price reached 140,250 dinars per $100, while the buying price reached 138,250 dinars per $100. https://www.mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=264356
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