Iraq Economic News and Points to Ponder Friday Afternoon 5-10-24
Report: Jordanian And Palestinian Banks Swallow The Iraqi Dollar
Reports| 05:53 – 04/30/2024 Mawazine News – Baghdad
Once again, the Central Bank grants Jordanian banks licenses to deal in dollars and restrict foreign transfers to them, which economists see as a “big mistake” that will contribute to losing control over the banking system, which will remain in the hands of the United States and Jordanian banks, warning against exploiting this file politically. In the future.
An informed source reveals to Mawazine News that, “During the current period, the Central Bank of Iraq granted four new licenses to Jordanian banks, which are the Union Bank, the Housing Bank, the Jordan Bank, and the Arab Bank.”
The source adds, “The Jordanian Capital Bank and the Cairo Amman Bank have strengthened their control over the National Bank of Iraq, by acquiring approximately 72 percent of the bank’s shares, with the former’s share amounting to 61.85 percent, and the latter’s share 9.90 percent,” pointing out that
“The share of the Palestinian Arcadia LLC amounts to 5 percent, bringing the total non-Iraqi shares to about 77 percent.
This is a very major violation of the Iraqi investment law, which limits foreign ownership to 49 percent of any Iraqi company.” He reveals,
“The efforts of the Jordanian Housing Bank also recently began to acquire the shares of the Iraqi Al-Mansour Bank, which is controlled by Qatar National Bank by 54 percent,” noting that
“Iraq has had a bad experience in entering foreign banks, as
it had previously entered Iranian banks, all of which were stopped due to sanctions, as well as Enter the
Lebanese banks that declared bankruptcy and seized Iraqi deposits estimated at $20 billion.”
The National Bank of Iraq accounts for a third of foreign currency sales, which is considered the main source of the Iraqi economy.
Since the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Iraqi banks, as a result of dollar smuggling to Iran, foreign banks have dominated the financial arena, as an Arab bank controlled a large percentage of dollar sales in Iraq.
For his part, the expert in banking affairs, Ahmed Al-Tamimi, believes that
“the Central Bank of Iraq made a big mistake when it worked to hand over to Jordanian banks the dollars owned in Iraq, and limited dealing with foreign transfers through those banks at the beginning of next year in accordance with the directions of the US Treasury.” Al-Tamimi explains,
“Dollar transactions by Iraqi banks will be non-existent during the new year, and the matter will be limited to the Iraqi Trade Bank and Jordanian banks.
This means that all Iraqi banks will be prohibited from any dealings in dollars, which gives Jordanian banks precedence at the expense of the Iraqi banking system.”.
The expert in banking matters calls on the Central Bank of Iraq to “negotiate urgently and before the end of the current year, in order to reach an understanding with the US Treasury to grant exceptions to some Iraqi banks, and not to limit dollar dealings to Jordanian banks, under the pretext that Iraqi banks do not have accounts in international correspondent banks.”.
Al-Tamimi warns,
“According to this American decision, the Central Bank of Iraq will lose control over the banking system, and
the system will remain managed by the Americans and Jordanian banks, and
this file may be exploited politically in the future by the Americans or even the Jordanians because foreign transfers will be exclusively in their hands, and
Iraq is not He has nothing to do with it, other than supervision and follow-up.”
The number of banks in Iraq reached 81, while the branches of foreign banks in Iraq reached 21, most of which are from Turkey, Jordan, Iran and the Emirates.
The Central Bank of Iraq pumps dollars to banks through the currency selling window, which it says has several functions, the
first of which is achieving stability in the exchange rate and the
second is meeting the requirements of foreign trade,
because “the Iraqi commodity sector is unable to provide the requirements of the local market,” according to the bank, which indicated that
“The window meets 87 percent of Iraq’s merchandise import requirements.”
https://www-mawazin.net/Details.aspx?jimare=247052
Al-Sudani: The Financial And Economic Reform Process Cannot Take Place Without A Banking System
May 7, 2024 Baghdad/Iraq Observer Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani confirmed during his meeting with the delegation of the Union of Arab Banks that the process of financial and economic reform cannot take place without a banking system.
The Prime Minister’s media office stated that “Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani received, today, Tuesday, the delegation of the Union of Arab Banks, headed by the Secretary-General of the Union, Mr. Wissam Hassan Fattouh. Al-Sudani welcomed, at the beginning of the meeting, the holding of the Arab Banks Conference in Baghdad, expressing Iraq’s happiness in hosting the conferences.”
Arabic, which confirms the return of Iraq to its natural position in the region and the world.”
The Prime Minister stressed that the process of financial and economic reform, which was adopted by the government, cannot occur without a solid banking system that is in harmony with the world,
indicating that the government has placed this matter within its work of development and reform since its first day, and that
Iraqi banks are proceeding today on a The right path in its transactions regarding financial transfers, and that
coordination of financial and monetary policy with the Central Bank continues, while preserving the bank’s independence.”
The Prime Minister pointed out that the policy of clarity, which was adopted by the government, helped identify the deficiencies in the banking system and worked to fix them, noting that
the Development Road Project is one of the aspects of economic integration in the region.
His Excellency welcomed holding a banking workshop to discuss the role of banks in the project. And in establishing industrial cities on the path of the road.”
For its part, the delegation of the Union of Banks praised the government’s measures to reform the banking sector.
As they are clear measures aimed at strengthening and enhancing the work of this sector,
the delegation also expressed its appreciation for the government’s steps in supporting the private sector and enhancing its role in sustainable development and international and regional partnerships.
https://observeriraq.net/السوداني-عملية-إلاصلاح-المالي-والاقت/
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Provoking Points To Ponder on Failures and Mistakes
Apparent failure may hold in its rough shell the germs of a success that will blossom in time, and bear fruit throughout eternity.- Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
The causes of mistakes are “I didn’t know”; “I didn’t think”; and “I didn’t care.”- Henry H. Buckley
Failures are divided into two classes: those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought.- John Charles Salak
A failure establishes only this, that our determination to succeed was not strong enough.- Christian Bovee
Self-distrust is the cause of most of our failures. They are the weakest, however strong, who have no faith in themselves or their own powers.- Christian Bovee
Defeat is a thing of weariness, of incoherence, of boredom.- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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