KTFA – Some “Iraqi News” posted by Clare at KTFA Sunday 10-8-2023

Clare:  Al-Sudani chairs a special meeting that included the Ministry of Communications and the Communications and Media Authority

10/8/2023   Baghdad /

 Today, Sunday, Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani chaired a meeting that included the Minister of Communications, Mrs. Hiyam Abboud Al-Yasiri, and the CEO of the Media and Communications Authority, Ali Al-Moayyed.

 The meeting discussed the services provided by these two institutions, ways to develop the communications sector, and the most prominent obstacles and impediments to their work. And remove everything that affects the provision of services to citizens.

A statement from Al-Sudani’s office said that the meeting discussed studying the development of plans to achieve the maximum benefit from this sector, because it represents an important financial source that contributes to maximizing the imports that the government employs in implementing the priorities and items of its government program.   LINK

In pictures…the first skyscraper in Iraq

10/7/2023

The capital, Baghdad, witnessed this evening, Saturday, the official announcement of the details of the tallest skyscraper in Iraq.

The project will be implemented in the capital, Baghdad, at a height of up to 250 metres.
The design is inspired by the historical Tower of Babel, as it gradually rises to the top, while the facade is decorated with carvings from Abbasid architecture that characterize Baghdad’s local architecture.

The tower includes 65 floors, including residential apartments, offices, and commercial corridors, and will be built on a land area estimated at 12,000 square meters.

The tower is located within the Downtown Baghdad project, which is being implemented in the Al-Baijiyah area, next to Al-Muthanna Airport in the center of the capital.   LINK

Clare:  Al-Emaar announces the completion of basic designs for 20 new residential cities

10/8/2023  Baghdad

The Ministry of Construction, Housing, Municipalities and Public Works announced on Sunday the completion of basic designs for 20 new residential cities in all governorates. 

Ministry spokesman Nabil Al-Saffar said, “The analysis requirements for four new residential cities, which were announced by the Ministry, have been completed, as recommendations for referral to the private sector and developers have been submitted,” noting that “the four cities are out of a total of five cities that were announced as opportunities.” investment, which was published on the website of the National Investment Authority and the New Cities Authority.”

Al-Saffar added in an interview with the official news agency, “The Ministry is currently in the process of completing the announcement requirements for six other new cities that have been identified in some governorates, and will be announced soon,” noting that “the basic designs for twenty cities have been completed, in coordination with all governorates.”

He continued, “The main obstacle to these cities was the issue of sorting and expropriation, as the Prime Minister had previously instructed the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture of the necessity of expediting the resolution of all conflicts and ownership of lands outside the basic designs of municipal institutions in the governorates and in accordance with the Ownership of Plots and Princely Buildings Law No. 3 of 1960.”  LINK

**************

Clare:  Baghdad hosts a conference of Arab foreign ministers

10/8/2023

The General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers decided, on Sunday, to hold its meeting in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, to discuss a number of important files, most notably the method of remote security training and qualification.

The Secretariat stated in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, that the Thirteenth Arab Conference for Heads of Security Training and Qualification Institutions, under the auspices of the Iraqi Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, will be held in Baghdad, hosted by the Ministry of Interior, during the period 10-11 October. This October.

 She indicated that representatives of the ministries of interior in Arab countries will participate in the conference, as well as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Naif Arab University for Security Sciences, and representatives of the General Secretariat of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers.

The conference will discuss a number of important topics on its agenda, including: a model vision for the method of remote security training and qualification, distance training and qualification: pros and cons, the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic on security training and qualification programs in the Arab world, and the localization of the specialized curriculum for the English language in… Arab ministries of interior.

The General Secretariat will submit the conference’s recommendations to the next session of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers to take what it deems appropriate regarding them. LINK

Clare:  The million is paid in 6,000 weekly installments

The dollar disaster has begun.. Baghdad banks to depositors: We apologize, our balance is zero today

10/8/2023 Al-Mansur (Baghdad) 964

The situation was not much different in Baghdad banks on Sunday morning, and procedures for disbursing balances in dollars continued to be halted, as the 964 network monitored in the Trade Bank branch in the “Babylon” Mall, and learned from depositors in other banks.

The urgent attempts of depositors to withdraw amounts from their balances were unsuccessful, as they fear that the balances will continue to be frozen until the end of the year, and that they will later be forced to spend them in dinars, and according to the official exchange rate.

The details:

The bank branch in the mall witnessed a state of chaos this morning, following the protest of dozens of customers demanding the disbursement of amounts of foreign transfers coming into their accounts, or the withdrawal of previously deposited balances.

The manager of the bank branch in the mall informed customers at 11:00 a.m. that the dollar balance in the bank had run out, and said, “The Central Bank did not send reinforcements.”

Customers of other banks in Baghdad are facing the same problems, as the banks are devoid of dollars, with depositors protesting against what they consider “theft operations to take advantage of their balances in the parallel market, or give them to people with influence or authority.”

Number of customers for the 964 network:

We have been checking in daily for more than a month to withdraw our external transfers. We wait for hours and the day ends and we are unable to withdraw our balances.

The bank claims that there is not enough dollar balance. Our transfers are supposed to be insured, so why are they being tampered with?

The branch management claims that the Central Bank does not provide it with sufficient dollar balances, but we see that some depositors have withdrawn their balances thanks to their personal relationships with bank employees.
Anyone who has a transfer worth one million dollars was told to disburse it in weekly payments not exceeding $6,000.

Transfers not exceeding $10,000. No more than $1,000 has been delivered to each depositor for approximately a month.

A source in the bank, to the 964 network:

The problem is related to the Central Bank and not to our bank. There is no reinforcement from the Central Bank of the bank’s accounts in dollars.

A source at the Central Bank, to the 964 network:

We send daily reinforcements to banks, but they are not sufficient for the withdrawal requests received from customers. There are fears among customers that they will not be able to withdraw their balances before the end of the current year and convert them to the Iraqi dinar, which makes them pressure to withdraw them during this period.   LINK

****************

Clare:  “Dealing with dinars is much better.”

The dollar transfer will not be withdrawn in cash after today.. A financial expert explains the chaos in Baghdad’s banks

10/8/2023   Baghdad –

Iraqi financial expert Mahmoud Dagher explained to the 964 Network the chaos that banks in Baghdad witnessed today, Sunday, after depositors were unable to receive their money in dollars. He said that amounts deposited in cash can be withdrawn in cash, but this never applies to remittances.

Until Sunday morning, banks in Baghdad continued to stop procedures for disbursing balances in dollars, as the 964 network monitored in the branch of the Trade Bank in the “Babylon” Mall, and learned from depositors in other banks.

Financial expert Mahmoud Dagher, told 964 Network :

The root of the problem is that the Bank of Baghdad “TBI” was giving dollars in cash to cash deposit holders and remittance holders alike.

The instructions now stipulate that whoever deposits cash can be reciprocated, while remittances are not given in cash, they can be sent to people to any place or method according to their decision.

This made banks unable to adequately cope with dollar withdrawals.

There is no reason to panic, especially since Iraq’s reserves are 115 billion dollars.

There will be no crisis in 2024, and the rule will remain: whoever deposits in dollars withdraws in dollars.

The dollar will not be banned, but it will be better to use the Iraqi dinar to make payments.

Mustafa Akram Hantoush – economic expert for 964 Network :

Deposits in banks remain at the disposal of the bank, and the Central Bank withdraws a reserve percentage of 12% from fixed deposits and 15% from demand deposits, meaning that approximately 90 percent of deposits are in banks.

What some banks in Baghdad did was a speculative operation, and therefore they refused to give people money in dollars by presenting weak arguments.

The Central Bank is clear on this matter and issued a statement confirming that deposits are returned in the same currency in which they were deposited and the account is closed with the same transactions in which the transaction was completed.   LINK