Tishwash: Economist: Most of the money supply is outside banks for this reason
Economic researcher Diaa Abdul Karim believes that most of the money supply is now outside banks due to citizens’ loss of confidence in the Iraqi banking system.
Abdul Karim told Al-Maalouma, “There is a lack of confidence among citizens in the existing banking system, due to fears of sanctions, bank robberies, or a collapse of the political system, which would have repercussions for the banks.”
He added, “This fear is leading citizens to turn away from banks, with most of the cash stock now stored in homes. The banking system is supposed to work to withdraw this cash and transfer it to electronic and credit cards, so that spending shifts to cards instead of cash.”
He explained that “the size of the monetary mass outside banks is estimated at more than 70 trillion dinars, and that the government’s measures, although an attempt to withdraw the monetary mass, will not push citizens toward strengthening their confidence in the banking system.” link
Tishwash: After failing to reach an agreement with Baghdad, a key government meeting was held in Erbil.
The Kurdistan Regional Government will hold a session tomorrow, Wednesday, to discuss the May and June salaries, while the re-export of the region’s oil will be another topic of discussion.
According to information available to Al-Masry, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Council of Ministers will hold a session tomorrow to discuss the results of the region’s delegation’s meetings with the federal government.
The Kurdistan delegation’s meetings in Baghdad over the past few days have yielded no results, despite assurances from MPs and political sources that an agreement is close to being reached on salaries and the resumption of the region’s oil exports.
According to sources, the federal government is expected to send May salaries until Erbil and Baghdad reach an agreement on oil exports and the release of half of the region’s oil revenues. link
*************
Tishwash: Al-Nusairi: The Central Bank is making fruitful efforts in the first half of 2025 to achieve the comprehensive banking reform project.
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 adherence 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. link
