Iraqis Await The US Federal Reserve’s Interest Rate Decision.
2025/07/02 Reading: 90 times {Economic: Al Furat News} Iraq is closely monitoring the US Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate decision amid expectations it will have a direct impact on the currency market and local investments.
In this context, economic expert Salah Nouri told Furat News, “The dollar’s decline as a result of inflation or interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve usually prompts investors and central banks to seek safe havens such as gold.”
He added, “The Central Bank of Iraq is in a good position in terms of its investments in gold,” noting that “the bank’s balanced policy is to diversify investments between gold and the dollar.”
Nouri explained that “this investment diversification aims to protect the Iraqi economy from global market fluctuations,” adding that “Iraq is carefully awaiting the Federal Reserve’s decision, given its repercussions for its financial stability.” LINK
Al-Nusairi: The Central Bank Is Making Fruitful Efforts In The First Half Of 2025 To Achieve The Comprehensive Banking Reform Project.
Banks Economy News – Baghdad Economic and banking advisor Samir Al-Nusairi affirmed on Wednesday that the Central Bank’s measures and efforts during the first half of 2025 were fruitful in implementing the objectives of the comprehensive banking reform project, in cooperation with the government and international consulting and auditing firms, particularly Oliver & Wyman, and the goals and initiatives of its third strategy for 2024-2026.
Al-Nusairi spoke about the challenges facing the Iraqi economy and the opportunities for reforming the banking sector within the government’s framework, as well as the prospects of the Central Bank’s future vision for the role of the banking sector in sustainable development.
He also spoke about the efforts currently being made to activate and revolutionize productive economic sectors other than oil, to diversify sources of national income and achieve financial sustainability, and the role of the Central Bank in regulating foreign trade financing.
Completing infrastructure projects to achieve comprehensive digital transformation and expanding the use of electronic payment tools to achieve financial inclusion.
Al-Nusairi explained that opportunities for reforming and developing the banking sector in 2025 are based on the following objectives:
First: Developing the Iraqi banking system and its compliance with international banking and accounting standards.
Second: Enhancing citizens’ confidence in the banking sector locally, and internationally recognizing its transparency, progress, and strict commitment to international standards, and gaining the trust of reputable correspondent banks to deal with it.
Third: Transforming banks to their primary function, which is financing and bank lending for development. Strengthening financial inclusion and increasing its current rate as planned.
Fourth: Banks that do not provide loans and banking facilities that contribute to development, as they are the lever of sustainable development, lose their meaning as banks, which requires a specific position from the Central Bank in 2025.
Fifth: Strengthening procedures and decisions to transition from a cash economy to a digital economy and withdrawing funds outside the banking cycle and bringing them into the banking system.
He pointed out that all the above objectives, although the period specified for their implementation according to the banking reform project and the Central Bank strategy ranges between (1-4 years), what was achieved in 2023 and 2024 until 6/30/2025 constitutes ambitious percentages as announced, which led to the evaluation and classification of banks based on their achievement of the planned objectives.
There are banks moving towards the required development and banks that still need an additional period of time to achieve the objectives, and there are troubled banks that are now making exceptional efforts from the Central Bank and the administrations of these banks to rehabilitate them. 881 views https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=56859
The Association Of Private Banks To Nina: Iraq Has Made Significant Progress In Promoting Financial Inclusion…And These Are The Requirements For The Success Of International Standards.
Wednesday, July 2, 2025, | Economic Number of reads: 109 Baghdad / NINA / The Iraqi Private Banks Association confirmed: “Iraq has achieved significant progress in financial inclusion thanks to the Central Bank’s commitment to implementing international standards.”
The head of the association, Wadih Al-Handhal, said in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency ( NINA ), that “the Central Bank of Iraq is moving forward in implementing compliance standards and enhancing financial inclusion in the banking sector, and the Banks Association also supports raising awareness of financial inclusion.”
He explained that “the success of the basic requirements for implementing these standards and achieving advanced levels in combating money laundering depend on training specialized and qualified staff to use information and databases, based on the principle of knowing the customer and the sources of his funds.”
He added: “The Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) has transformed Iraq from a gray zone to a monitoring area, and this is true evidence that Iraq has achieved significant progress in enhancing financial inclusion and combating money laundering and terrorist financing,” noting that “the need for legal legislation still exists, and we must move forward in training human cadres to keep pace with the rapid digital and technological transformation in the world.”
Regarding the financial inclusion rates achieved by Iraq, Al-Handhal explained that, “according to international standards, the current financial inclusion rate in Iraq has exceeded 46% compared to previous years, which is a very significant progress with which we seek to achieve a rate of 90-95% in cooperation with the Central Bank in the near future.
The Arab Monetary Fund is also very satisfied with this rate and is following the growth of the banking sector. It considers Iraq to be implementing financial inclusion through a sound mechanism that has contributed to Iraq’s progress in ranking ahead of other countries.”/End https://ninanews.com/Website/News/Details?key=1238746
Net Foreign Investment In Iraq Declines In 2024 And The First Quarter Of 2025.
Money and Business Economy News – Baghdad Data released by the Central Bank of Iraq showed that net foreign investment in Iraq recorded a deficit of $8 billion in 2024, due to net foreign investment outflows of $7.6 billion, in addition to Iraqi investments abroad amounting to $400 million.
For the first quarter of 2025, data indicates a continued negative trend, with net outward foreign investment from Iraq exceeding $1.1 billion. This figure is broken down into:
– Net outward foreign investment of $1 billion.
– Iraqi outward investments of $133 million, registering a 21% increase compared to the last quarter of 2024.
Despite a 36% decline in net outward foreign investment, the index remains in negative territory, according to Al-Abidi. This means that investments continue to leave Iraq rather than flow into it, reflecting the ongoing challenges facing the local investment environment.
Foreign direct investment—both inward and outward—plays a vital role in Iraq’s balance of payments. Along with oil sales, it represents one of the primary sources of foreign currency. The higher the investment flows, the less pressure there will be on the local market’s demand for dollars and other foreign currencies.
It’s worth noting that the Iraqi government had previously announced attracting $63 billion in foreign investment over the past two years, but these figures were not actually reflected in the balance of payments data.
This is likely because these projects have not yet been completed or have not entered into actual financial implementation, meaning their monetary impact on the banking and financial system has been absent. 441 views https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=56899
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