Tishwash: 4 reasons behind the stability of exchange rates in Iraq
The Prime Minister’s financial advisor, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed on Thursday that the stability of exchange rates and the decline in inflationary pressures in Iraq are due to four interconnected factors that supported the local market despite the disruption of global supply chains, particularly through the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz .
Saleh said, in a statement followed by Al-Sa’a Network, that “the first factor is the availability of high stocks of durable goods, while the second is related to the state’s ability to secure a strategic reserve of food basket items and enhance food security.”
He added that “the third factor is the high level of government support, which includes fuel, food baskets and public services, in addition to the role of cooperative stores in absorbing price pressures.”
He pointed out that “the fourth factor lies in the efficiency of foreign reserves in financing private sector trade, with the exchange rate stabilizing at around 1,320 dinars to the dollar, and the high level of banking and commercial compliance, which helped to accelerate foreign transfers and ensure the smooth flow of imports.”
He explained that “the combination of these factors contributed to consolidating economic stability and reducing fluctuations in prices and the exchange market, within integrated financial, monetary and trade policies led by the government.” link
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Tishwash: Financial advisor warns: Lack of budget hinders economic reforms
The Prime Minister’s financial advisor, Mazhar Muhammad Saleh, announced on Thursday that a proposal had been submitted to avoid delaying the approval of the budget, noting that delaying the approval of the budget would lead to a number of negative effects.
Saleh said in a statement to the official agency, which was followed by “Video News Agency” that “the failure to approve the general budget, whether it is related to the financial schedules for 2025 within the three-year budget law, or the budget for 2026, leaves a number of negative effects.”
He explained that “among the most prominent of these effects is the disruption of new investment projects and the slowdown in the implementation of existing projects, as a result of the lack of necessary financial allocations, in addition to the government resorting to the temporary spending rule (1/12 of a previous budget) based on the amended Financial Management Law No. (6) of 2019, which restricts the ability to expand spending or launch new programs.”
He added that “this negatively impacts economic growth rates and raises unemployment rates, in addition to weakening investor confidence due to the lack of clarity in financial policies, as well as the delay in implementing economic and administrative reforms,” noting that “to avoid a recurrence of this situation in the future, there is a proposal to adopt multi-year budgets with greater legislative flexibility, which reduces reliance on annual approval, with the need to strengthen the legal framework for financial management to ensure adherence to budget approval timelines, as well as to neutralize political disputes from the budget approval process.”
He explained that “diversifying revenue sources and strengthening the role of regulatory institutions contribute to supporting financial stability and accelerating the process of approving the general budget.”
Regarding how to absorb the burdens of the past two years, Saleh stated that “this requires preparing a flexible budget based on rearranging priorities, including previous commitments within the new allocations, improving spending efficiency, as well as the possibility of resorting to well-considered borrowing and strengthening the partnership with the private sector.” link
Tishwash: Iraq needs deeper economic reforms; unemployment is expected to rise to over 15% by 2025.
Statistics compiled by Statista, a German company specializing in global market and consumer data, showed that the unemployment rate in Iraq recorded a slight increase during the year 2025.
The company stated in its report that the unemployment rate in Iraq rose in 2025 to 15.49%, compared to 15.28% in 2024, reflecting continued pressures in the labor market despite limited improvement.
According to the data, the country’s unemployment rate rose by 6.85 percentage points during the period from 1991 to 2025, but this rise was not constant, but rather characterized by clear fluctuations up and down over the years.
She noted that 2016 saw the highest levels of unemployment, with the rate reaching 16.17%, amid economic and security challenges that directly affected job opportunities and economic activity.
She added that these figures show that the labor market in Iraq still faces structural challenges, requiring deeper economic reforms to boost employment and create sustainable job opportunities. link
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Tishwash: Kurdistan Finance Ministry transfers more than 43 billion dinars of non-oil revenues to the federal treasury
The Ministry of Finance and Economy of the Kurdistan Regional Government announced on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, that it had transferred the non-oil revenue amounts for the month of March to the federal government in Baghdad.
The ministry stated in an official statement that it had deposited an amount of (43,094,141,000) forty-three billion, ninety-four million, one hundred and forty-one thousand Iraqi dinars into the bank account of the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The statement explained that these sums, which represent the region’s share of non-oil revenues, were delivered “in cash” through the Central Bank of Iraq branch in Erbil.
This step comes as a continuation of the implementation of the provisions of the joint agreements and legal obligations between Erbil and Baghdad, related to the mechanism for delivering local revenues and financial entitlements to strengthen the state’s general treasury. link
