TNT

Tishwash: A government source discloses the reasons for the sudden rise of the dollar in the Iraqi markets

A source in the Iraqi government attributed, on Sunday, the rise of the dollar during the past two days to the suspension of the Central Bank auction.

The source said in an interview with Shafaq News Agency, “The rise in dollar prices in the local markets is due to the weekend that was announced for Eid al-Adha,” stressing that “this rise is temporary.”

He added that “traders will resort to the market during these days to obtain dollars to cover their imports, and thus the demand for dollars will rise in light of the bank’s auction halt.”

The source pointed out that “Iraq did not resort to floating its currency, and therefore, once the auction returns, the dollar prices will return to what they were previously,” stressing that “the central bank will work now to maintain the level of the current exchange rate for the longest possible period.”

The source noted that “the banks that submitted their requests to the bank to buy the dollar last Thursday, and these requests will be implemented at the beginning of next week,” expecting “the dollar will not rise significantly despite the length of the holiday for Eid al-Fitr.”

The dollar exchange rates rose again yesterday, Saturday and today, gradually, after witnessing a decline during the past week.   link

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

Tishwash:  A meeting to implement the terms of the memorandum of understanding between the Jordanian and Iraqi standards

The Standards and Metrology Organization and the Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control in Iraq held a meeting on Sunday via video communication technology to activate the memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides.

The Director General of the Corporation, Eng. Abeer Barakat Al-Zuhair, stressed the importance of cooperation between the two sides to achieve the common interests of the two brotherly peoples, noting the Corporation’s keenness to establish technical and scientific cooperation to achieve integration in the field of standards, metrology, accreditation and conformity assessment, and to start the procedures for listing the Jordanian Conformity Certificates Directorate as a conformity assessment body Recognized by the Iraqi Central Organization for Standardization.

She noted that the Directorate is scientifically and technically qualified for accreditation from the Iraqi side, and holds international accreditation from the German Accreditation Authority and the Jordanian Accreditation Unit, in the field of granting conformity certificates through the Saber platform, and recognition from the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization, as one of the conformity assessment bodies in the field of granting certificates Conformity of products through the Saber platform, and in the field of food halal certification Al-Zuhair pointed out that the institution’s laboratories, which have international and national accreditation, can provide their expertise to the Iraqi brothers, facilitating the movement of trade between the two brotherly countries.

It was also agreed to set a timetable for activating the terms of the memorandum of understanding and exchanging experiences in the fields of formulations, standards and calibration, training the concerned parties from the Iraqi side in Jordan, and appointing liaison officers from both sides for permanent communication and discussion of developments.

For his part, Director of Technical Services in the Iraqi Central Organization for Standardization and Control, Dr. Qusay Ibrahim Khalil, affirmed the agency’s interest and keenness to activate the memorandum of understanding and strive to overcome obstacles and provide all facilities, in the service of the two countries’ economies and knowledge exchange between them.   link

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

Tishwash:  Has Iraq benefited from the nationalization of banks since the ?1960s

The nationalization decision is scientifically explained as transferring the ownership of private banks to the public sector, so that the banks become public property of the people, without providing .compensation to their owners

Resolution No. 100 of 1964 to nationalize Iraqi banks came as a result of the desire of the Arab Socialist Union, the Nasserist organization that seized power in Iraq with a coup movement led by President Abdel Salam Aref .against the regime of Abdel Karim Qassem

And the Qatari Al-Jazeera channel stated in a report, that the Prime Minister’s Advisor for Financial Affairs, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, explained that Dr. Khair El-Din Haseeb, Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq at the time, led, in coordination with the Egyptian government, the nationalization movement, and the national banking system and branches of foreign banks operating in the country were among those nationalized banks And a new entity was formed at that time called (the General Organization for Banks), within which the nationalized banks gradually .dissolved and their ownership was nationalized, including the Arab Bank, the Eastern Bank and others

For his part, Wahbi al-Khafaf, head of the Iraqi Bankers Syndicate, believes that the establishment of the General .Banking Corporation gave great control to the financial authority over the organization of banks’ work

Al-Khaffaf added that the institution’s role is similar to that of the Central Bank of Iraq, but it was established to .strengthen it at that time, in addition to facing the objections that accompanied the nationalization decision

He pointed out that the stage of bank nationalization is the third of the 6 stages in the life of the banking sector, and it is the most important stage because the first two stages were run by the Ottoman occupation, whose banking management was characterized by imbalance, while the second stage was under the British administration, which monopolized profits and banking activity, and led This led to the failure of the expansion of banking services with the limited use of cash and the small size of the economy, and the banks were working exclusively for foreign trade, in addition to the fact that the monetary authority was not in the hands of the Iraqis, .so it was necessary to establish the General Corporation for Banks

Mazhar Saleh tells about the era of the seventies of the last century, which ended with a very large governmental commercial bank, “Al-Rafidain Bank”, which included all nationalized banking entities and the effect of merging policies between the branches of the old banks

According to Saleh, Al-Rafidain Bank has become one of the largest commercial government banks in the Middle East in terms of capital capacity and has become the only monopoly for financing civil and governmental trade in Iraq, with the exception of financing the defense and government oil sectors, whose tasks in managing their .relations in financing foreign trade remain entrusted to the Central Bank of Iraq

As the expert in banking affairs, Dr. Salam Sumaisem, believes that the nationalization of banks directly eliminates .the quality of the product, freedom of production and the element of competition

Sumaisem indicated that the experience of nationalizing Iraqi banks in 1964 was a real disaster to the present .time, and undermined the Iraqi decision-maker from acquiring the confidence of the private investor

She added that Iraq could not erase the effects of nationalization because the local or foreign private sector had been greatly damaged by the nationalization decision, according to which property was confiscated and all its .details were transferred directly to the public sector

The decision to nationalize came without prior coordination, study and planning due to the nationalists’ control at that time of the reins of government and the Central Bank of Iraq, “as they only wanted to reproduce the failed .experiences of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser,” according to Sumaisem

Banking expert Aqil Al-Ansari states that the decision to nationalize Iraqi banks was purely political and did not .carry any economic or banking motive at the time of its issuance

The banking expert, Abdul Rahman Al-Sheikhly, says that the nationalization decision is better than the state of lawlessness experienced by the banking institution in the country today in the event that there is a rational .administration enjoyed by the Iraqi state and not the Ministry of Finance or the Central Bank of Iraq

Al-Sheikhly added that the state’s declared economic approach is the market economy approach, but today’s influential political entities exploited it and made us accept the restrictive totalitarian economic system because of its guarantees for the employees of this institution, and this will certainly reflect positively on its performance, and then this credibility will be more confident and attractive to investment. To ensure a discreet, risk-free .performance

And about the years after the decision to nationalize the banks, Saleh talks about the split of Al-Rasheed Bank from Al-Rafidain Bank in 1988 as a clean bank free from the burdens of the Iraq-Iran war and their debts that had accumulated on behalf of the Iraqi government and amounted to 88 billion dollars, as there were many failures .and defaults in payment and payment

Saleh adds that in 1990 the Central Bank of Iraq Law No. 64 of 1976 was amended in Chapter Five of it, which authorized private banks after all government banks were subject to the measures of Chapter VII of the Charter of .the United Nations due to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait

The story of the nationalization of government banks and the socialist banking sector, according to the financial advisor, ended due to the restrictions and resolutions of the UN Security Council on the Kuwait war, which obligated Saddam Hussein’s political regime to liberalize the financial market to escape international restrictions, .by licensing commercial and Islamic private banks

During the period between 1990 and 2003, according to the amended Central Bank of Iraq Law No. 64 of 1976, more than 12 private banks were authorized, while their current number is nearly 70 banks practicing commercial, .Islamic and investment banking  link

Fullsail:  Remember…. We only get recognition for crossing the finish line not how long it took us to get there. we have all paid our dues in persistence, determination, & patience, nothing else to do but count our Blessings for this opportunity shown to us, educate & prepare for our future to pay it forward using HIS resoruces as we can not take it with us on our next venture. Blessings to All who recognized this opportunity and took action towards its’ journey to reality.