Tishwash: The Cabinet directs the reduction of official working hours during Ramadan.
The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers issued a directive today, Thursday, to reduce official working hours during the holy month of Ramadan .
The General Secretariat stated in a statement received by Al-Sa’a Network that “it has been decided to reduce official working hours by one hour in ministries and entities not affiliated with a ministry, and all governorates during the holy month of Ramadan .”
She explained that “the directive included authorizing the concerned authorities to determine this at the beginning or end of official working hours .”
The statement continued, “The directive is based on paragraph four of Cabinet Resolution No. 128 of 2025, which includes the recommendations of the committee concerned with providing the appropriate legal recommendation regarding the adoption of the timings for the start and end of official working hours in government institutions link
Tishwash: Details of the meeting between Maliki and Sudani
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani met on Wednesday (February 11, 2026) with Nouri Kamel al-Maliki, head of the State of Law Coalition, to discuss the overall general situation and the course of dialogues between political forces regarding the upcoming constitutional entitlements.
The Prime Minister’s Media Office said in a statement received by “Baghdad Today” that “the meeting witnessed a review of the understandings and dialogues between the national forces, and the efforts made to reach a political agreement that completes the selection of the President of the Republic in the House of Representatives, and proceeds with the rest of the constitutional entitlements.”
The statement added that “Al-Sudani and Al-Maliki discussed the positions of the political blocs on the current course, in addition to emphasizing the government’s continued work to meet the requirements of services and development, and to strengthen the national economy in light of the current political circumstances.” link
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Tishwash: Iraq has ‘huge plan’ to transform banking sector, says CBI governor
Ali al-Alaq told The New Region that citizens must not “rush to the market” amid a rise in unofficial dollar prices, insisting that the Central Bank is maintaining foreign reserves “at a very good level.”
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) Governor Ali al-Alaq told The New Region on Wednesday that Baghdad has a “huge plan” to change the banking sector in the next few years, reassuring the Iraqi population that the value of the Iraqi dinar compared to the US dollar is under control.
Alaq urged the Iraqi people to “calm down” and not to “rush to the market,” amid a recent soaring rise in unofficial dollar prices, going from around 1,420 dinars per $1 in the black market to 1,570, before settling around 1,500. In comparison, the CBI has set the value at 1,300 dinars per $1.
The fluctuations have created uncertainty and unrest in the Iraqi market, with several videos circulating on social media showing people rushing to currency exchange centers across the country. In response to a question by The New Region regarding a potential problem with the Iraqi dinar’s value, Alaq asserted, “not at all.”
“We have foreign reserves at a very good level,” Alaq said, reassuring that “we are not in a position that we cannot respond to these demands on the American dollars” as Baghdad has purchased large quantities of gold.
The interview came during the launch event of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) e-Psule initiative, a platform that will allow users to pay their utility bills electronically through several wallets and banks that have participated in the program.
Alaq praised the KRG’s initiative, saying, “It won’t change everything, but it will change something for sure.”
“Especially, like, when you offer new tools for people, new technology, easy to use and you will save money, you will save time, … I think you will attract more and more people,” the CBI governor said, lauding Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani’s “vision” and “will” toward a cashless economy for the Region.
Speaking to Iraq’s broader strides toward a better banking sector, Alaq said that Baghdad and Erbil are in “close coordination,” adding that “the plan we have, really, it’s a huge plan. It will change the whole sector.”
“We expect that in two or three years we will see a totally different sector,” he stressed. “I think one of the biggest plans within the country in general. So, we are very optimistic about the plan.”
In late September, CBI announced a plan to end cash payments in government institutions by July 2026, as part of a nationwide shift to electronic payments.
“Iraq will completely eliminate cash transactions in state institutions and other facilities by July of next year,” Dhurgham Musa, director of supervision over non-banking financial institutions at CBI, told the state newspaper in September.
The plan is being carried out under the direct supervision of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and other government ministries, according to Musa, adding that trillions of dinars have already been paid electronically and the interior ministry has completely halted the use of cash. ink
