Tishwash: Trump: What happened in Iraq is “very good” and I’m happy with the prime minister-designate.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that recent developments in Iraq were “very good,” expressing his satisfaction with the selection of the Iraqi prime minister-designate, in a further sign of Washington’s support for the new Iraqi leadership.
Trump said in a press statement followed by “Iraq Observer”, “What happened in Iraq is very good and I am happy with the prime minister-designate”, adding: “We are supposed to receive a response from Iran tonight.”
Trump had invited Iraqi Prime Minister-designate al-Zaidi to visit Washington following the formation of the new government, stressing the US administration’s desire to strengthen bilateral relations and security and economic cooperation between the two countries.
The US president also stressed his country’s support for the formation of an Iraqi government capable of building a better future for Iraq, free from terrorism. link
Tishwash: Hussein Arab: The cabinet approval session will be held on Monday with a government missing two ministers.
MP Hussein Arab confirmed today, Thursday (May 7, 2026), that the session to pass the ministerial cabinet will be held on Monday, with the government being presented with only two ministers missing.
Arab explained in a statement to “Baghdad Today” that “Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zidi intends to present his cabinet formation next Sunday, along with his government program, in preparation for requesting a vote of confidence from Parliament,” indicating that “the latest date for the vote will be Monday.”
He added that “Al-Zaydi has great freedom in choosing candidates for ministries, as he asked some blocs to submit more than one name for each portfolio so that he could choose one of them, while he asked other blocs that have specific ministries to submit one candidate to be approved, provided that he is from the same bloc.”
He pointed out that “the prime minister-designate may ask the Democratic Party to nominate a specific name for one of the ministries because he believes that this person will succeed in managing it, and the same applies to other ministries.”
Arab explained that “Al-Zidi’s cabinet is primarily economic, and aims to improve the service and economic situation in the country,” revealing that “a number of competent ministers in the current government will have their confidence renewed within Al-Zidi’s government, due to his conviction that their performance was outstanding in the past period.”
He added that “the next stage requires greater support for the person in charge in order to achieve success,” stressing that “the country is going through a sensitive stage that requires concerted efforts to overcome the challenges.”
Political consultations are continuing in Baghdad regarding the formation of the new government headed by Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi, amid anticipation of the confidence vote session in Parliament, and the accompanying discussions about the distribution of ministerial portfolios and the nature of the expected cabinet, which is expected to have an economic character to address the accumulated challenges in the service and financial files. link
************
Tishwash: The Central Bank continues to strengthen the stability of the dinar and the sustainability of the cash dollar.
The Prime Minister’s financial advisor, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, confirmed on Friday that the stability of the exchange rate is part of the Central Bank’s monetary policy, noting that there are ongoing measures to enhance the stability of the dinar, control liquidity, and ensure the sustainability of cash dollar supplies .
Saleh said, in a statement to the official agency followed by Al-Sa’a Network, that “the exchange rate policy and the monetary system are among the exclusive jurisdictions of the monetary authority, according to the Central Bank of Iraq Law No. (56) of 2004, which granted the Central Bank legal independence in formulating and implementing its monetary policies, while subjecting it to accountability before the House of Representatives based on Article (103) of the Constitution of the Republic of Iraq .”
He added that “the Central Bank of Iraq adopts a fixed official exchange rate policy as a nominal anchor to achieve general price stability in the long term, maintain monetary balance, and reduce inflationary expectations .”
He pointed out that “despite the independence of monetary policy, the management of the exchange rate is not done in isolation from coordination with the executive authority under the constitution, especially coordination with public finance in implementing fiscal policy, as the official rate is, in part, a contractual rate between monetary and fiscal policies .”
He pointed out that “the Central Bank informed the Ministry of Finance, late last year, that the exchange rate adopted for the purposes of preparing the draft federal budget law for 2026 would be around (1300) dinars per dollar, which reflects the continued adherence to the fixed official rate adopted since February 2023 until today, and is an important indicator of stability for the market and its expectations .”
Regarding the parallel exchange market, Saleh explained that “adopting financing foreign trade through official channels and at a fixed exchange rate has contributed to achieving important results in reducing the impact of black market fluctuations on price stability, most notably that the official market contributes to absorbing more than 90% of the real demand for the dollar, reducing demand in the parallel market to marginal limits, enhancing monetary balance, and improving control over liquidity levels by controlling their levels .”
He stressed that “stabilizing the parallel market is not achieved only through increasing the injection of cash dollars for travelers and others, which represents a percentage between 5% and 10% of the total demand for foreign currency, but rather through an integrated package of continuous measures, including effective management of cash liquidity through intervention in the exchange market, controlling and regulating official demand channels for foreign currency, enhancing confidence in institutions and monetary policies, as well as developing the internal commercial and financial infrastructure .”
He pointed out that “the sustainability of supplying cash dollars remains a key factor in stabilizing the parallel market and the noise that accompanies it, in accordance with well-thought-out supply plans that meet the needs of the local market, while adhering to national and international institutional compliance standards related to the use of foreign currency, and combating money laundering and the financing of illegal activities link
Tishwash: Financial savings are out of control… warnings of the fragility of the economic system
Economic concerns have been raised regarding the management of the Central Bank’s financial reserves, amid assurances that they are not subject to direct use except through borrowing.
Economic and oil expert Duraid Al-Anzi confirmed on Friday that Iraq is going through a major and suffocating crisis as a result of the failure to take measures related to the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund and financial savings.
Al-Anzi said that “Iraq is going through a major and suffocating crisis, as Iraq has not taken measures to establish a sovereign wealth fund and savings.”
He added that “the central bank’s savings are outside of financial and economic control, and can only be accessed through borrowing.”
He pointed out that “oil is essential, as Iraq has produced at least $17 trillion from oil sales over the past years.”
He explained that “the continuation of the current situation of restricting oil exports leads to deterioration,” expressing his fear that “there might be an idea to mortgage Iraqi oil.”
Al-Anzi stressed that “the country’s economic situation is very dangerous and needs to be monitored.” link
