“Tidbits from TNT” Monday 10-16-2023

TNT:

CandyKisses:  Sudanese advisor: 70% of Iraq’s imports are with the BRICS countries

Economy News – Baghdad

The financial adviser to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Mohammed Saleh, revealed on Sunday that 70% of Iraq’s imports are with the countries of the “BRICS” group.

Saleh told the official news agency, “The BRICS group includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, where the origin of the name (BRICS or BRICS) was launched in 2001 by Goldman Sachs financial group economist Jim O’Neill to describe fast-growing economies that are expected to collectively dominate the global economy by 2050.”

He added, “Iraq announced its desire to join the BRICS group, as there is an objective basis related to the links of the Iraqi economy with the markets of the BRICS countries themselves, as it reflects the current account of the Iraqi balance of payments with the countries of that economic group, which includes the strongest emerging markets in the world,” noting that “there is a direct dependence of the BRICS group on an important percentage of Iraq’s oil exports, which are not less than 55 percent, especially India and China.”

He explained that “about 70 percent of Iraq’s imports are currently with the BRICS countries themselves, which means that the trade partnership and Iraq’s strong economic interests automatically push towards international economic cooperation with our country’s trade partners, especially in the issue of looking towards wider areas in the flow of the group’s investments, and obtaining advantages to join in a way that serves the future of sustainable development and the progress of the economy in our country.”

He added that the “BRICS” group currently occupies about 27 percent of the world’s land area and 42 percent of the world’s population, with Brazil, Russia, India and China among the ten largest countries in the world in terms of population, area and GDP (according to the purchasing power parity criterion), and the last three countries (India, China and Russia) are potential emerging superpower countries, while all five countries in the BRICS group are also members of the the twenty, which includes the United States of America and the rest of the Group of Seven.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani confirmed Iraq’s readiness to join the BRICS group, if it receives an invitation from the founding countries.

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Tishwash:  Sudanese gives government banks one week to simplify their procedures

Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani directed the simplification of all banking procedures. He also directed the preparation of a proposed list of facilities and simplified procedures to be submitted within a week.

Al-Sudani’s office said in a press statement, “Within the framework of his follow-up to the plan to implement financial and administrative reforms in the financial and banking sectors, Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani chaired a meeting that included the Governor of the Central Bank and the directors of government banks, in which the procedures and work mechanisms taken to achieve banking reform were discussed.” Which constitutes one of the basic steps for financial and economic reform that the government adopts in its executive approach.”

Al-Sudani stressed, according to the statement, that “financial reform is not just a slogan, but rather a series of terms and procedures that the government is determined to implement without hesitation, and will face all the challenges and obstacles that impede the progress of implementing systematic and thoughtful reform plans.”

The statement added that Al-Sudani “directed the simplification of all banking procedures, and the preparation of a proposed list of facilities and simplified procedures to be presented within a week, in addition to providing a summary of the obstacles that obstruct the banking reform process, and proposing effective and implementable treatments for them, in a way that helps in overcoming the approved traditional contexts, which… This prevents the government’s goal of developing this important economic and service sector from being achieved.” link

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Tishwash:  Parliamentary hosting of the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq regarding the dollar exchange rate

The Parliamentary Finance Committee announced on Monday that it will host in the coming days the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq and its general directors regarding the lack of control over the exchange rate of the US dollar against the dinar

Committee member Mustafa Al-Karaawi told Shafaq News Agency, “The committee will host this week the Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, and the general directors of the bank to find out the reasons for the rise and fall in the dollar exchange rate in the parallel market and who is the party concerned with implementing the reform packages launched by the Central Bank.”

He pointed out that “the instability of the dollar exchange rate has caused an economic problem, and there is no clear policy for the central bank,” stressing that “the government must implement what the bank wants through the reform packages it launched, and therefore controlling the exchange rate is a shared responsibility.” between the Central Bank and government agencies, especially those concerned with import and customs ports.” 

Al-Karawi pointed out that “hosting the bank’s governor will address the economic crisis, the rise and fall of the dollar, and the agreements the bank signed with the US Federal Reserve and the World Bank.”

The exchange rates of the US dollar have witnessed an upward increase against the Iraqi dinar for several months, and reached its peak this month when the price reached 1,655 dinars to one dollar, despite the government and the Central Bank setting an official exchange rate of 1,320 dinars to one dollar.   link