[rtl]Imposing tutelage and pressure with its economic and financial sticks, and imposing success, many and effective sanctions[/rtl]
[rtl]Monday, February 20, 2023 - 07:30[/rtl]
[ltr]Jassar Saleh Al-Mufti[/ltr]
[rtl]Iraqis and observers are following with great interest the results of the visit of the Iraqi economic delegation to the United States a few days ago, because of its decisive effects on the economic and living conditions of the country, present and in the future, in light of the repercussions of the American-Iranian conflict on the Iraqi arena and the region.
In an attempt to convince the American administration to ease restrictions on the movement of the dollar that it imposed on Iraq recently to limit massive transfers of Iraqi funds to Iran and some neighboring countries, the Baghdad government sent an economic delegation to Washington that included Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, senior economists and finance experts, and representatives of some ministries, where the visit raised divergent opinions between the Iraqi delegation's claim of the success of its mission, and the indications of the failure of the visit and the US imposing its conditions on Iraq.
failure indicators
Many indicators confirmed the difficulty of the economic delegation's task in persuading Washington to ease its restrictions imposed on the movement of the Iraqi dollar to limit its flow towards Iran and its allies, as part of the United States' efforts to control the Iraqi economy by linking it to it and its allies and keeping it away from Iranian influence.
In what appears to be an acknowledgment by the Baghdad government that the US position cannot be changed, the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani, described the attempt to impede the wheel of the economy and return to smuggling and violating the laws as a "losing bet." Al-Sudanese stressed that “the wheel of economic reform is moving forward” and that “whoever bets on going backwards, practicing smuggling, and violating laws and instructions, is a losing bet. ».
This statement coincided with a massive campaign launched by the security authorities against banking companies and banks that buy dollars from the market and smuggle them abroad, where it was announced that many of those involved in this matter were arrested, to limit Iraqi banking companies buying dollars from the market to smuggle it or manipulate its exchange rate. And this came in the wake of the US Federal Reserve's recent decision to place restrictions on illegal transfers of billions of dollars from Iraq to other countries, which Washington considered a breach of the international sanctions imposed on Iran and its allies.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, who met in Washington with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, announced that the Iraqi delegation called on the Americans to implement the provisions of the strategic agreement signed by Iraq and the United States in 2011. The Iraqi delegation held numerous With American financial decision makers and the World Bank, in order to convince them of the safety of the Iraqi government's meetings measures to curb currency smuggling, which is not an easy task in light of the Baghdad governments' silence on the widespread smuggling of dollars to Iran since 2003. The meetings also discussed the economic situation in Iraq, the problem of banks, the exchange rate of the dollar, the production of gas, oil, electricity and others.
In order to reassure the American side of the Baghdad government's efforts to move away from dependence on Iranian oil and gas, Fuad Hussein affirmed, "We are working to achieve independence in the field of energy," claiming that "Iraq cannot be an oil and gas state and does not have electricity," stressing that the Iraqi government recently decided to activate the agreements concluded with various companies to extract gas from the fields, and that agreements will also be concluded with other companies to invest in the field of gas associated With oil, as Iraq is the second country in the world in wasting gas.
US focus on Iraq's economy
As for US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, he stressed in his speech during the press conference with the Iraqi Foreign Minister, "that his country is working to strengthen the Iraqi economy and reintegrate it into the region within the framework of the strategic relations that link the two countries," explaining, "We are now focusing very intensively on the economic dimension of that agreement."
In stressing Iraq's distance from dependence on Iranian oil and gas, Blinken said: "There will be a special focus on energy and electricity in the strategic framework agreement," stressing that Iraq "can and must be independent in the field of energy." It is a reference to the American rejection of the Baghdad government's dependence on Iranian oil and gas, in conjunction with the deliberate waste of Iraqi gas and the rejection of calls for its investment by local and international companies.
It was noted that Blinken did not address in his statements the main issue related to the movement of the dollar in Iraq, which indicates that the US administration did not change its restrictions and did not respond to the Iraqi demands. Informed sources confirmed that the American position was strict on the need for Iraq to reconsider its banking system, which has large loopholes that allow the smuggling of Iraqi funds to Iran and help it break the blockade and sanctions against it. Washington also revealed that it closely monitors money laundering and currency smuggling in Iraq, and therefore warned Baghdad of the need to control the movement of its dollar, otherwise the Iraqi dinar will be doomed to collapse, as happened with the Syrian and Lebanese pounds.
The joint statement of the two countries stated that they had decided to “accelerate efforts to exploit the burning gas, modernize the infrastructure for natural gas distribution, regional connectivity to the Iraqi electricity network, modernize the electricity infrastructure in Iraq, and explore renewable energy opportunities.” .” The American delegation praised “Iraq's commitment to regional electrical interconnection projects with Jordan and Saudi Arabia.” They also urged the use of solar energy. The two delegations affirmed "the convergence of views that the pursuit of an ambitious agenda for energy independence is necessary to achieve maximum economic prosperity for Iraq and protect its sovereignty."
While the Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, affirmed the bank's intention to launch the second package of measures that would enhance the stability of the dollar exchange rate, stressing that “the new electronic platform to avoid the imposition of any penalties on the parties that carry out transfer operations, whether they are banks or others, as it is a protection for the banking sector and the bank.” The Central Bank and the banks from falling into any forms related to foreign financial transfers, and this serves all parties.
Iraqi economic analysts indicated that the US Federal Bank gave Iraq a short period of time to commit to monitoring the movement of its funds, in accordance with international standards, and to avoid money laundering and informal transfers.
Samir Obaid, an academic and expert in political and strategic affairs, revealed, in a series of tweets on his personal page on Twitter, “Washington imposed a number of conditions on Iraq in order to overcome the dollar crisis and smuggle it abroad, and that Among the American conditions signed by the Iraqi delegation in Washington is the opening of a federal office in Amman.” His mission is to monitor the movement of Iraqi funds ». He revealed that "Al-Sudanese broke the barrier of hesitation and courtesy with the framework leaders (Iran's allies) and informed them of the strict American conditions signed by the Iraqi delegation in Washington, which have become binding," he said, which he considered "imposing American tutelage on the Iraqi economy by signing them in Washington."
shiite criticism
Perhaps the most prominent indicator of the failure of the Iraqi delegation to change the American position is the angry reactions of the forces of the coordination framework allied to Iran, which expressed dissatisfaction with the results of the Foreign Minister's move in Washington and pledged to send Prime Minister Minister Muhammad al-Sudani to Washington for this purpose.
The forces of the framework directed various accusations against the United States, at times of seeking to control Iraq and its economy, with calls to get rid of the American financial hegemony over Iraq. In addition to calls for the Sudanese government to sell oil to India, China and other countries, in currencies other than the dollar, away from the US financial system that controls the world economy. While some framework sources stated that Washington took the oil export agreement to Jordan through the (Basra-Aqaba) pipeline as one of the conditions for resolving the dollar crisis, others claimed that the Russian-Chinese-French move towards Iraq recently prompted Washington to impose restrictions to put pressure on the Iraqi government economically.
Away from intentions and goals, observers see that the American measures are welcomed by most Iraqis, as they are beneficial to their country and limit the draining of Iraq's funds by other countries. They also see that the decisions of the US Federal Bank are systematic and deliberate to direct the Iraqi economy and prevent its exploitation by Iran and its allies. As for the Baghdad government, which has fallen between the American rock and the Iranian anvil, it has no choice but to abide by the American restrictions, despite the pressure exerted on it by the Iraqi loyalist forces, which reflects Iran's unwillingness to abandon the Iraqi dairy cow, amid anticipation of the next Iranian steps to circumvent the American decisions.
But it could only be what the occupiers and the recipients wanted... A remarkable financial development witnessed by Iraq at the end of 2022, with the decision of the US Federal Bank to stop suspicious and fictitious financial transfers from Iraq abroad, which caused an increase in the exchange rate of the dollar and an increase in commodity prices, as well as many countries surrounding the country have been deprived of billions of Iraqi dollars.
In a strange paradox, a severe financial crisis has engulfed Iraq these days, as a result of the consequences of the decline in the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar, reaching unprecedented record levels, despite the large financial surplus available to it as a As a result of the high prices of Iraqi oil sources and the lack of a budget for the year 2022.
The rise in the exchange rate of the dollar came from 1450 dinars per dollar to reach about 1600 in the parallel market, due to the lack of supply of hard currency, followed by a significant rise in the prices of all goods and services in the Iraqi markets, which constituted additional new pressure on the purchasing power of citizens and the stagnation of the market movement. Amid the government's inability to deal with the situation and its exposure to embarrassment, as it promised to reduce the exchange rate of the dollar within the program of the government of Muhammad al-Sudanese, which has been around for two months.
The causes of the crisis
There is no doubt that the direct cause of the new financial crisis is due to the US Federal Bank preventing fake and suspicious financial transfers from Iraq abroad, especially to Iran and its allies in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, where these Iraqi financial transfers are a lifeline of support for the economies of those countries that are under pressure from international sanctions and stifling financial blockade.
The US Federal Reserve Bank had imposed amendments to the procedures for Iraqi transfers that go through the "Swift" system to include an audit of the source of funds until the final recipient, in a measure that reflects political motives, after repeated US warnings to Iraq not to breach the sanctions on Iran. On the other hand, several parties bought dollars from the market to compensate for stopping their dealings with the Central Bank of Iraq, which led to an increase in commodity prices.
Parliamentary movement
In the face of the widespread popular discontent and the stagnation of activities in the markets due to the huge rise in prices, many deputies moved to convene a session of the House of Representatives and address the problem. At the forefront of the initiators were the representatives of the Tishreen reform movement.
The "Humans Movement" took the initiative to collect parliamentary signatures to hold a parliament session, to discuss the serious repercussions of the high dollar exchange rate and to find out the government's measures towards it. While the head of the political bureau of the “Emtiad movement”, Raed Al-Saleh, criticized what he described as the “appreciated silence” by the government regarding the exchange rate of the dollar, referring to “efforts to interrogate Prime Minister Muhammad Al Sudanese over the failure to control the exchange rate of the dollar and other issues.”
In a statement, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Shakhwan Abdullah, called on the government, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank to “reconsider financial policy, take measures and increase the opening of foreign currency sales outlets in banks and at the government rate, in order to prevent a rise in the exchange rate of the dollar.” He called for "not enabling those who control the black markets to benefit from the exchange rate of turmoil, and to cordon off wrong monetary practices that harm the economy and commercial activity throughout the country."
However, the former politician and deputy, Mishaan al-Jubouri, was more frank when he explained, "The US treasury revealed operations to smuggle currency out of the country and demanded that the Iraqi government make sales only for real credits and through documents."
Al-Jubouri said during a televised interview, “The US Treasury followed up the issue of currency smuggling abroad and activated its office in Baghdad, and learned that the dollar is smuggling to Iran despite the sanctions it imposes on it, and in order to control This situation, the Iraqi government demanded that sales be only for real credits.” Through documents.
He pointed out that "the US Federal Reserve put a lot of Iraqi banks and companies that were found to have deals in this aspect in the black list and prevented them from buying the currency." Pointing out that “a lot of the money sold by the central bank goes to Iran through fake companies and banks, and then forged documents come in exchange for this smuggled money.”
governmentactions
Within the framework of the government's move to confront the crisis, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia'a al-Sudani, called for "activating steps to sell foreign currency at official prices to citizens," stressing the need to take the necessary measures to prevent illegal speculation, and everything that harms the local market and leads to higher prices.
In a statement, he urged the importance of “activating steps to sell foreign currency at official rates to citizens through purchasing with electronic cards, opening sales outlets for travelers, or clients outside Iraq, or financing foreign trade, in accordance with the fundamentalist contexts and international standards for opening documentary credits and remittances.”
Al-Sudani also acknowledged that “exchange rate fluctuations and their impact on the Iraqi economy made us adhere to the inevitability of economic reform, support for agriculture, industry, tourism and trade, instead of Iraq being a market for imported goods and a passage for smuggling hard currency and money laundering.”
As for the procedures of the Central Bank of Iraq, observers considered it below the level of the crisis, as the central bank decided not to collect customs duties and taxes in advance on imports, and sold dollars to patients traveling for treatment and students abroad, And pumped dollars to some banks to sell them to citizens.
The economic advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, considered that the rise in the exchange rate in favor of the dollar is not caused by a problem with the adequacy of foreign reserves, indicating that “Iraq's reserves of foreign currency exceeded 100 billion dollars , and the percentage of the current account surplus amounted to about 15 percent.
He added, "What happened in terms of increases is a temporary phenomenon dictated by regulatory conditions in the procedures for conducting external transfer requests (submitted by local banks) on foreign currency," noting that "work was carried out a while ago with an advanced electronic platform linking the request for transfers by local banks with correspondents." From international banks and relevant global compliance bodies at the same time.
And the economic advisor acknowledged: “During the start of the experiment a few weeks ago, it became clear that there were shortcomings and informational shortcomings that were not consistent with the governance of the flow of remittances through the global banking system, which led to some of them being returned again or rejected in order to complete the standard submission requirements and follow the standard foundations in disclosing the final beneficiary and other conditions.” Bank disclosure and compliance.
Attack on America
In an attempt to cover up the real causes of the crisis, the Shiite parties and factions launched a violent attack on the United States, blaming it for raising the price of the dollar and accusing it of meddling in Iraqi affairs.
The leader of the State of Law, Haider al-Lami, said in a statement, “America has punished the four private Iraqi banks and warned 30 other banks based on suspicion indicating that these banks are smuggling money outside the country and money laundering operations. " Claiming that “Washington does not have any evidence about these banks.
While the leader of the State of Law coalition, Ibrahim al-Sakini, accused America of creating tensions for the Sudanese government by interfering in the policy of the Central Bank and removing some banks from the currency auction, accusing America of seeing itself as a guardian of the people in imposing its own interests.
There is no doubt that the new financial crisis widened the differences between the Sudanese government, which announced the status of combating corruption and currency smuggling among its priorities, and between parties and factions that own banks and exchange shops that annually transfer billions of dollars to allied countries, through the dollar sale window in the Central Bank of Iraq, deliberately exploiting the Iraqi governments turned a blind eye and ignored advice from inside and outside the need to control this window to prevent smuggling.
It is noteworthy that all Iraqi funds received from its oil sales are deposited in the US Federal Bank, which in turn releases financial transfers to the Iraqi Ministry of Finance, because Iraq is still subject to US tutelage over Iraqi funds. Therefore, specialists fear the possibility of returning Iraq to the provisions of Chapter VII, amid leaks about the tendency for American advisors to supervise and monitor the performance of the Central Bank to prevent widespread smuggling of currency.
In fact, the recent American move was expected, as it was no secret to the United States that the ruling Iraqi political forces provided huge sums of money to Iran and its allies to help it face US sanctions. And that those forces are ready to serve their allies, even at the expense of exposing the economy and the Iraqi people to dangers, crises and suffering. While observers agree that the American decision constituted a very effective blow to Iran by cutting off the most important financial resource for it and its allies in these extremely difficult circumstances for it.
Although::::::: Iran has a long history of exploiting tourism to penetrate the homelands of the Arabs and the world, and 4 Arab countries tolerated Iranian tourism, so Iran gradually took control of its capitals and decision-making positions, turned its elites into tools, terrorized the rest, drained its economy, diverted its resources to serve Iran politically, economically and militarily, it turned it into centers for recruiting terrorist militias loyal to it, centers for manufacturing and distributing drugs and weapons, money laundering for it, and it planted mercenaries from everywhere, so it became difficult to restore the situation without long wars with a suffocating international blockade of Iran and the structures and organizations that created it
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[/rtl]
In an attempt to convince the American administration to ease restrictions on the movement of the dollar that it imposed on Iraq recently to limit massive transfers of Iraqi funds to Iran and some neighboring countries, the Baghdad government sent an economic delegation to Washington that included Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, senior economists and finance experts, and representatives of some ministries, where the visit raised divergent opinions between the Iraqi delegation's claim of the success of its mission, and the indications of the failure of the visit and the US imposing its conditions on Iraq.
failure indicators
Many indicators confirmed the difficulty of the economic delegation's task in persuading Washington to ease its restrictions imposed on the movement of the Iraqi dollar to limit its flow towards Iran and its allies, as part of the United States' efforts to control the Iraqi economy by linking it to it and its allies and keeping it away from Iranian influence.
In what appears to be an acknowledgment by the Baghdad government that the US position cannot be changed, the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia' al-Sudani, described the attempt to impede the wheel of the economy and return to smuggling and violating the laws as a "losing bet." Al-Sudanese stressed that “the wheel of economic reform is moving forward” and that “whoever bets on going backwards, practicing smuggling, and violating laws and instructions, is a losing bet. ».
This statement coincided with a massive campaign launched by the security authorities against banking companies and banks that buy dollars from the market and smuggle them abroad, where it was announced that many of those involved in this matter were arrested, to limit Iraqi banking companies buying dollars from the market to smuggle it or manipulate its exchange rate. And this came in the wake of the US Federal Reserve's recent decision to place restrictions on illegal transfers of billions of dollars from Iraq to other countries, which Washington considered a breach of the international sanctions imposed on Iran and its allies.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, who met in Washington with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, announced that the Iraqi delegation called on the Americans to implement the provisions of the strategic agreement signed by Iraq and the United States in 2011. The Iraqi delegation held numerous With American financial decision makers and the World Bank, in order to convince them of the safety of the Iraqi government's meetings measures to curb currency smuggling, which is not an easy task in light of the Baghdad governments' silence on the widespread smuggling of dollars to Iran since 2003. The meetings also discussed the economic situation in Iraq, the problem of banks, the exchange rate of the dollar, the production of gas, oil, electricity and others.
In order to reassure the American side of the Baghdad government's efforts to move away from dependence on Iranian oil and gas, Fuad Hussein affirmed, "We are working to achieve independence in the field of energy," claiming that "Iraq cannot be an oil and gas state and does not have electricity," stressing that the Iraqi government recently decided to activate the agreements concluded with various companies to extract gas from the fields, and that agreements will also be concluded with other companies to invest in the field of gas associated With oil, as Iraq is the second country in the world in wasting gas.
US focus on Iraq's economy
As for US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, he stressed in his speech during the press conference with the Iraqi Foreign Minister, "that his country is working to strengthen the Iraqi economy and reintegrate it into the region within the framework of the strategic relations that link the two countries," explaining, "We are now focusing very intensively on the economic dimension of that agreement."
In stressing Iraq's distance from dependence on Iranian oil and gas, Blinken said: "There will be a special focus on energy and electricity in the strategic framework agreement," stressing that Iraq "can and must be independent in the field of energy." It is a reference to the American rejection of the Baghdad government's dependence on Iranian oil and gas, in conjunction with the deliberate waste of Iraqi gas and the rejection of calls for its investment by local and international companies.
It was noted that Blinken did not address in his statements the main issue related to the movement of the dollar in Iraq, which indicates that the US administration did not change its restrictions and did not respond to the Iraqi demands. Informed sources confirmed that the American position was strict on the need for Iraq to reconsider its banking system, which has large loopholes that allow the smuggling of Iraqi funds to Iran and help it break the blockade and sanctions against it. Washington also revealed that it closely monitors money laundering and currency smuggling in Iraq, and therefore warned Baghdad of the need to control the movement of its dollar, otherwise the Iraqi dinar will be doomed to collapse, as happened with the Syrian and Lebanese pounds.
The joint statement of the two countries stated that they had decided to “accelerate efforts to exploit the burning gas, modernize the infrastructure for natural gas distribution, regional connectivity to the Iraqi electricity network, modernize the electricity infrastructure in Iraq, and explore renewable energy opportunities.” .” The American delegation praised “Iraq's commitment to regional electrical interconnection projects with Jordan and Saudi Arabia.” They also urged the use of solar energy. The two delegations affirmed "the convergence of views that the pursuit of an ambitious agenda for energy independence is necessary to achieve maximum economic prosperity for Iraq and protect its sovereignty."
While the Governor of the Central Bank, Ali Al-Alaq, affirmed the bank's intention to launch the second package of measures that would enhance the stability of the dollar exchange rate, stressing that “the new electronic platform to avoid the imposition of any penalties on the parties that carry out transfer operations, whether they are banks or others, as it is a protection for the banking sector and the bank.” The Central Bank and the banks from falling into any forms related to foreign financial transfers, and this serves all parties.
Iraqi economic analysts indicated that the US Federal Bank gave Iraq a short period of time to commit to monitoring the movement of its funds, in accordance with international standards, and to avoid money laundering and informal transfers.
Samir Obaid, an academic and expert in political and strategic affairs, revealed, in a series of tweets on his personal page on Twitter, “Washington imposed a number of conditions on Iraq in order to overcome the dollar crisis and smuggle it abroad, and that Among the American conditions signed by the Iraqi delegation in Washington is the opening of a federal office in Amman.” His mission is to monitor the movement of Iraqi funds ». He revealed that "Al-Sudanese broke the barrier of hesitation and courtesy with the framework leaders (Iran's allies) and informed them of the strict American conditions signed by the Iraqi delegation in Washington, which have become binding," he said, which he considered "imposing American tutelage on the Iraqi economy by signing them in Washington."
shiite criticism
Perhaps the most prominent indicator of the failure of the Iraqi delegation to change the American position is the angry reactions of the forces of the coordination framework allied to Iran, which expressed dissatisfaction with the results of the Foreign Minister's move in Washington and pledged to send Prime Minister Minister Muhammad al-Sudani to Washington for this purpose.
The forces of the framework directed various accusations against the United States, at times of seeking to control Iraq and its economy, with calls to get rid of the American financial hegemony over Iraq. In addition to calls for the Sudanese government to sell oil to India, China and other countries, in currencies other than the dollar, away from the US financial system that controls the world economy. While some framework sources stated that Washington took the oil export agreement to Jordan through the (Basra-Aqaba) pipeline as one of the conditions for resolving the dollar crisis, others claimed that the Russian-Chinese-French move towards Iraq recently prompted Washington to impose restrictions to put pressure on the Iraqi government economically.
Away from intentions and goals, observers see that the American measures are welcomed by most Iraqis, as they are beneficial to their country and limit the draining of Iraq's funds by other countries. They also see that the decisions of the US Federal Bank are systematic and deliberate to direct the Iraqi economy and prevent its exploitation by Iran and its allies. As for the Baghdad government, which has fallen between the American rock and the Iranian anvil, it has no choice but to abide by the American restrictions, despite the pressure exerted on it by the Iraqi loyalist forces, which reflects Iran's unwillingness to abandon the Iraqi dairy cow, amid anticipation of the next Iranian steps to circumvent the American decisions.
But it could only be what the occupiers and the recipients wanted... A remarkable financial development witnessed by Iraq at the end of 2022, with the decision of the US Federal Bank to stop suspicious and fictitious financial transfers from Iraq abroad, which caused an increase in the exchange rate of the dollar and an increase in commodity prices, as well as many countries surrounding the country have been deprived of billions of Iraqi dollars.
In a strange paradox, a severe financial crisis has engulfed Iraq these days, as a result of the consequences of the decline in the exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar, reaching unprecedented record levels, despite the large financial surplus available to it as a As a result of the high prices of Iraqi oil sources and the lack of a budget for the year 2022.
The rise in the exchange rate of the dollar came from 1450 dinars per dollar to reach about 1600 in the parallel market, due to the lack of supply of hard currency, followed by a significant rise in the prices of all goods and services in the Iraqi markets, which constituted additional new pressure on the purchasing power of citizens and the stagnation of the market movement. Amid the government's inability to deal with the situation and its exposure to embarrassment, as it promised to reduce the exchange rate of the dollar within the program of the government of Muhammad al-Sudanese, which has been around for two months.
The causes of the crisis
There is no doubt that the direct cause of the new financial crisis is due to the US Federal Bank preventing fake and suspicious financial transfers from Iraq abroad, especially to Iran and its allies in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, where these Iraqi financial transfers are a lifeline of support for the economies of those countries that are under pressure from international sanctions and stifling financial blockade.
The US Federal Reserve Bank had imposed amendments to the procedures for Iraqi transfers that go through the "Swift" system to include an audit of the source of funds until the final recipient, in a measure that reflects political motives, after repeated US warnings to Iraq not to breach the sanctions on Iran. On the other hand, several parties bought dollars from the market to compensate for stopping their dealings with the Central Bank of Iraq, which led to an increase in commodity prices.
Parliamentary movement
In the face of the widespread popular discontent and the stagnation of activities in the markets due to the huge rise in prices, many deputies moved to convene a session of the House of Representatives and address the problem. At the forefront of the initiators were the representatives of the Tishreen reform movement.
The "Humans Movement" took the initiative to collect parliamentary signatures to hold a parliament session, to discuss the serious repercussions of the high dollar exchange rate and to find out the government's measures towards it. While the head of the political bureau of the “Emtiad movement”, Raed Al-Saleh, criticized what he described as the “appreciated silence” by the government regarding the exchange rate of the dollar, referring to “efforts to interrogate Prime Minister Muhammad Al Sudanese over the failure to control the exchange rate of the dollar and other issues.”
In a statement, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Shakhwan Abdullah, called on the government, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank to “reconsider financial policy, take measures and increase the opening of foreign currency sales outlets in banks and at the government rate, in order to prevent a rise in the exchange rate of the dollar.” He called for "not enabling those who control the black markets to benefit from the exchange rate of turmoil, and to cordon off wrong monetary practices that harm the economy and commercial activity throughout the country."
However, the former politician and deputy, Mishaan al-Jubouri, was more frank when he explained, "The US treasury revealed operations to smuggle currency out of the country and demanded that the Iraqi government make sales only for real credits and through documents."
Al-Jubouri said during a televised interview, “The US Treasury followed up the issue of currency smuggling abroad and activated its office in Baghdad, and learned that the dollar is smuggling to Iran despite the sanctions it imposes on it, and in order to control This situation, the Iraqi government demanded that sales be only for real credits.” Through documents.
He pointed out that "the US Federal Reserve put a lot of Iraqi banks and companies that were found to have deals in this aspect in the black list and prevented them from buying the currency." Pointing out that “a lot of the money sold by the central bank goes to Iran through fake companies and banks, and then forged documents come in exchange for this smuggled money.”
governmentactions
Within the framework of the government's move to confront the crisis, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia'a al-Sudani, called for "activating steps to sell foreign currency at official prices to citizens," stressing the need to take the necessary measures to prevent illegal speculation, and everything that harms the local market and leads to higher prices.
In a statement, he urged the importance of “activating steps to sell foreign currency at official rates to citizens through purchasing with electronic cards, opening sales outlets for travelers, or clients outside Iraq, or financing foreign trade, in accordance with the fundamentalist contexts and international standards for opening documentary credits and remittances.”
Al-Sudani also acknowledged that “exchange rate fluctuations and their impact on the Iraqi economy made us adhere to the inevitability of economic reform, support for agriculture, industry, tourism and trade, instead of Iraq being a market for imported goods and a passage for smuggling hard currency and money laundering.”
As for the procedures of the Central Bank of Iraq, observers considered it below the level of the crisis, as the central bank decided not to collect customs duties and taxes in advance on imports, and sold dollars to patients traveling for treatment and students abroad, And pumped dollars to some banks to sell them to citizens.
The economic advisor to the Prime Minister, Mazhar Muhammad Salih, considered that the rise in the exchange rate in favor of the dollar is not caused by a problem with the adequacy of foreign reserves, indicating that “Iraq's reserves of foreign currency exceeded 100 billion dollars , and the percentage of the current account surplus amounted to about 15 percent.
He added, "What happened in terms of increases is a temporary phenomenon dictated by regulatory conditions in the procedures for conducting external transfer requests (submitted by local banks) on foreign currency," noting that "work was carried out a while ago with an advanced electronic platform linking the request for transfers by local banks with correspondents." From international banks and relevant global compliance bodies at the same time.
And the economic advisor acknowledged: “During the start of the experiment a few weeks ago, it became clear that there were shortcomings and informational shortcomings that were not consistent with the governance of the flow of remittances through the global banking system, which led to some of them being returned again or rejected in order to complete the standard submission requirements and follow the standard foundations in disclosing the final beneficiary and other conditions.” Bank disclosure and compliance.
Attack on America
In an attempt to cover up the real causes of the crisis, the Shiite parties and factions launched a violent attack on the United States, blaming it for raising the price of the dollar and accusing it of meddling in Iraqi affairs.
The leader of the State of Law, Haider al-Lami, said in a statement, “America has punished the four private Iraqi banks and warned 30 other banks based on suspicion indicating that these banks are smuggling money outside the country and money laundering operations. " Claiming that “Washington does not have any evidence about these banks.
While the leader of the State of Law coalition, Ibrahim al-Sakini, accused America of creating tensions for the Sudanese government by interfering in the policy of the Central Bank and removing some banks from the currency auction, accusing America of seeing itself as a guardian of the people in imposing its own interests.
There is no doubt that the new financial crisis widened the differences between the Sudanese government, which announced the status of combating corruption and currency smuggling among its priorities, and between parties and factions that own banks and exchange shops that annually transfer billions of dollars to allied countries, through the dollar sale window in the Central Bank of Iraq, deliberately exploiting the Iraqi governments turned a blind eye and ignored advice from inside and outside the need to control this window to prevent smuggling.
It is noteworthy that all Iraqi funds received from its oil sales are deposited in the US Federal Bank, which in turn releases financial transfers to the Iraqi Ministry of Finance, because Iraq is still subject to US tutelage over Iraqi funds. Therefore, specialists fear the possibility of returning Iraq to the provisions of Chapter VII, amid leaks about the tendency for American advisors to supervise and monitor the performance of the Central Bank to prevent widespread smuggling of currency.
In fact, the recent American move was expected, as it was no secret to the United States that the ruling Iraqi political forces provided huge sums of money to Iran and its allies to help it face US sanctions. And that those forces are ready to serve their allies, even at the expense of exposing the economy and the Iraqi people to dangers, crises and suffering. While observers agree that the American decision constituted a very effective blow to Iran by cutting off the most important financial resource for it and its allies in these extremely difficult circumstances for it.
Although::::::: Iran has a long history of exploiting tourism to penetrate the homelands of the Arabs and the world, and 4 Arab countries tolerated Iranian tourism, so Iran gradually took control of its capitals and decision-making positions, turned its elites into tools, terrorized the rest, drained its economy, diverted its resources to serve Iran politically, economically and militarily, it turned it into centers for recruiting terrorist militias loyal to it, centers for manufacturing and distributing drugs and weapons, money laundering for it, and it planted mercenaries from everywhere, so it became difficult to restore the situation without long wars with a suffocating international blockade of Iran and the structures and organizations that created it
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» More than one billion dollars in sales from the Central Bank of Iraq within a week
Yesterday at 7:42 am by Rocky
» Members of Parliament head to the Great Hall to initiate procedures for electing the president
Yesterday at 7:38 am by Rocky
» The House of Representatives concludes the report and discussion of the draft law on public holidays
Yesterday at 7:37 am by Rocky
» The House of Representatives votes to extend its legislative term for 30 days
Yesterday at 7:36 am by Rocky
» A Canadian company is “unable” to dismiss its director authorized to protect Baghdad Airport: Iraq i
Yesterday at 7:34 am by Rocky
» Economic Institution: The value of China's exports to Iraq increased by 93% in 10 years
Yesterday at 7:31 am by Rocky
» The Presidency of Parliament decided to devote today’s session to electing the president only
Yesterday at 7:29 am by Rocky
» In the presence of 183 deputies...the House of Representatives holds its session
Yesterday at 7:28 am by Rocky
» Al-Kadhimi hints at the possibility of postponing the session to elect the Speaker of Parliament
Yesterday at 5:09 am by Rocky
» The regional government announces the payment of employees' salaries via “My Account”
Yesterday at 5:07 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Transport reviews the details of the development road and Al-Faw Grand Port projects
Yesterday at 5:05 am by Rocky
» Istanbul will host expanded Turkish/Arab economic meetings at the beginning of next month
Yesterday at 5:03 am by Rocky
» Customs sets the date for collecting tax amounts electronically and sets a condition
Yesterday at 5:02 am by Rocky
» Sudanese agrees to support pilgrims with an amount of 39 billion dinars to reduce the cost of Hajj
Yesterday at 5:00 am by Rocky
» The Sudanese advisor clarifies the discussion of budget schedules in the extraordinary session of th
Yesterday at 4:59 am by Rocky
» Most of the framework and the Kurdistan Democratic Party will vote for Al-Mashhadani as Speaker of P
Yesterday at 4:55 am by Rocky
» A deputy considers the movement of Turkish forces inside Iraqi territory an occupation
Yesterday at 4:53 am by Rocky
» Directing the Ministry of Finance to spend drug law implementation budgets
Yesterday at 4:52 am by Rocky
» A parliamentary movement to resolve the fate of holding private wards
Yesterday at 4:51 am by Rocky
» A member of a legal movement calling for accelerating the amendment of Article 57
Yesterday at 4:49 am by Rocky
» A parliamentary effort to gain ownership of the trespassers and slum owners
Yesterday at 4:48 am by Rocky
» There is a consensus on deciding the presidency of Parliament today, and the balance is tilted towar
Yesterday at 4:47 am by Rocky
» The price of the dollar is witnessing a slight increase in Baghdad, Basra and Erbil
Yesterday at 4:46 am by Rocky
» Behind the scenes of electronic blackmail in Iraq... “A good hacker,” “blackmailing spouses,” and se
Yesterday at 4:44 am by Rocky
» The coordination framework supports Al-Sadr: We will pass the “Eid Al-Ghadir” holiday today
Yesterday at 4:42 am by Rocky
» The session to elect the Speaker of Parliament... intense meetings and fears of its failure due to “
Yesterday at 4:41 am by Rocky
» People with chronic diseases...a government statistic regarding the number of applicants for social
Yesterday at 4:39 am by Rocky
» The Sudanese advisor issues a clarification regarding the discussion of budget schedules in an extra
Yesterday at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Russia is at the top, and this is Iraq's rank... a list of countries that buy most real estate in Tü
Yesterday at 4:37 am by Rocky
» The opening of the first aviation, space and artificial intelligence institution in Baghdad
Yesterday at 4:33 am by Rocky
» Iraq digs 30 meters under the sea and completes the Al-Faw docks in 5 months...a fixed date with the
Yesterday at 4:32 am by Rocky
» Al-Allaq announces the success of the electronic transfer platform in combating money laundering
Yesterday at 4:31 am by Rocky
» Al-Saadawi directs the disbursement of 1.5 million dinars to each private transport employee who con
Yesterday at 4:29 am by Rocky
» Minister of Commerce from Silo Makhmour: The quantities of wheat marketed have reached two million t
Yesterday at 4:28 am by Rocky
» Hours after choosing Al-Halbousi's successor... Al-Mashhadani sends a message to the Iraqis
Yesterday at 4:27 am by Rocky
» How do we wash the “dirty Baghdad dollar”? A clearer picture of 1,000 Iraqi methods for money launde
Yesterday at 4:25 am by Rocky
» Transport is launching a new mechanism to pay bus tickets via phone soon
Yesterday at 4:24 am by Rocky
» Baghdad Summit 2025.. Iraq reunites its brothers around the table of dialogue and common interests
Yesterday at 4:23 am by Rocky
» Bangladesh is ahead of it... Iraq’s classification in the Arab world and internationally by the qual
Yesterday at 4:19 am by Rocky
» Today...the House of Representatives is scheduled for a “fateful” session
Yesterday at 4:17 am by Rocky
» The General Secretariat denies that the Fine platform was exposed to electronic hacking
Yesterday at 4:15 am by Rocky
» Transport reveals the completion rates in the Al-Faw Port and Development Road projects
Yesterday at 4:12 am by Rocky
» Mayor of the Capital: The Baghdad Metro project will be implemented this year by a solid investment
Fri 17 May 2024, 2:28 pm by Rocky
» A reading of the financial and monetary policies of the International Monetary Fund report - May 202
Fri 17 May 2024, 2:27 pm by Rocky
» Floating the Iraqi dinar A solution to fill the "gap" of its turbulent price against the dollar
Fri 17 May 2024, 9:22 am by wciappetta
» utube MM&C 5/14/24 Iraq Dinar - IQD Update - UN Chapter VII - $3 Billion Revenue - Trade Minister -
Fri 17 May 2024, 7:39 am by Rocky
» Iraq announces the payment of the last installment of the International Monetary Fund loan
Fri 17 May 2024, 6:48 am by Rocky
» The International Monetary Fund calls on Iraq to cancel the appointments and correct the course of n
Fri 17 May 2024, 6:46 am by Rocky
» For the first time after Iraq joined the Bank’s membership: The Minister of Finance participates in
Fri 17 May 2024, 6:43 am by Rocky
» A delegation from the Retirement Authority discusses with the World Bank reform of the retirement sy
Fri 17 May 2024, 6:41 am by Rocky
» Istanbul.. Iraq is discussing with the World Bank reform of the country’s retirement system
Fri 17 May 2024, 6:40 am by Rocky
» The President of the Republic stresses the importance of coordination between Iraq and Kuwait on reg
Fri 17 May 2024, 6:37 am by Rocky
» Among them are Russia and China... Members of the Security Council support ending the mission of the
Fri 17 May 2024, 6:36 am by Rocky
» The full statement of Iraq’s welcome of the Arab League’s decision to hold the Baghdad Summit in 202
Fri 17 May 2024, 6:35 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary expectations of electing a new Speaker of Parliament and extending the work of the Ele
Fri 17 May 2024, 6:32 am by Rocky
» Transparency website: Sulaymaniyah and Halabja imports amounted to about 11 billion dinars last week
Fri 17 May 2024, 6:31 am by Rocky
» The Hajj Authority begins disbursing dollars to pilgrims via the electronic platform
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:27 am by Rocky
» Oil announces the expansion of installing gas networks and proceeding with the import of plastic gas
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:24 am by Rocky
» Politician: Al-Mashhadani is closest to the presidency of the House of Representatives
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:23 am by Rocky
» Al-Ittihad: The delay in the localization of salaries has had a negative impact on the citizens of K
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:21 am by Rocky
» A new maneuver for the region regarding the salaries of its employees...these are its details
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:20 am by Rocky
» The Parliamentary Energy Committee determines its position on the new oil coupons
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:19 am by Rocky
» Washington: We are communicating with officials in Baghdad, Ankara, and Erbil to resume Kurdistan oi
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:16 am by Rocky
» In agreement with international companies, the first tourist flight was launched from Kirkuk Airport
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:15 am by Rocky
» Al-Allaq announces the success of the electronic transfer platform in combating money laundering
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:13 am by Rocky
» The Chinese dragon applies to Iraqi oil... Where is Iran in this equation?
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:12 am by Rocky
» Sudanese advisor announces full repayment of IMF loans
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:11 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani reiterates: Iraq is heading towards expanding petrochemical projects
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:10 am by Rocky
» The Monetary Fund: “Internal stability has improved since the new government took office in October
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:09 am by Rocky
» Washington clarifies its position on stopping Kurdistan oil exports through Türkiye
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:08 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Labor directs to increase electronic payment (POS) devices
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:05 am by Rocky
» After the worsening crisis of “carrying vehicles” at the entrances to the governorates, the Minister
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:03 am by Rocky
» The Hajj Authority begins disbursing dollars to pilgrims via the electronic platform
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:02 am by Rocky
» Iraq reaches its “peak”... Parliamentary legal opinion opens the file of job laxity and confirms: it
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:01 am by Rocky
» The framework is awkward between Al-Mashhadani and Al-Issawi... and he sees his salvation in the “th
Fri 17 May 2024, 5:00 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani directs the formation of a technical team to follow up on the procedures for implementing
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:58 am by Rocky
» Kurdistan outlets confirm their commitment to Baghdad’s controls, but: 70% of the outlets are “outsi
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:57 am by Rocky
» In numbers... budget tables paralyze investment allocations to governorates
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:55 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Transport reveals the completion rates of rail and land connectivity plans for the d
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:53 am by Rocky
» He confirmed that the memorandums of understanding signed with Washington are being implemented on t
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:52 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Planning and the World Bank discuss supporting Iraq's policies to reduce dependence
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:50 am by Rocky
» Bahaa Al-Araji: They killed Umm Fahd with foreign will, and Al-Mashhadani’s nomination targets Al-Su
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:49 am by Rocky
» American official: When I see the oil industry in Kurdistan, I think of Oklahoma
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:48 am by Rocky
» Mishaan Al-Jubouri’s leaks to the session: Al-Maliki needs Al-Mashhadani to restrain Al-Sudani and h
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:47 am by Rocky
» Safia Al-Suhail supervises the integrity judge’s signing of a memorandum of understanding with the S
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:46 am by Rocky
» Deputy: The budget is political, not technical, and we do not rule out obstructing it to resolve the
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:45 am by Rocky
» New American positions towards resuming the export of Kurdistan oil... and foreign companies set a c
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:42 am by Rocky
» With the ongoing controversy... Is Iraq responsible for smuggling weapons into Jordan?
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:40 am by Rocky
» Not only to elect the president.. Why is tomorrow’s parliament session exceptional?
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:38 am by Rocky
» Large spread of foreigners in optical markets
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:37 am by Rocky
» Labor takes measures to address the foreign worker file
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:35 am by Rocky
» Communications is looking with Amazon to create a data center to provide Internet content to Iraq
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:34 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani reiterates Iraq's move towards expanding petrochemical projects
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:32 am by Rocky
» Plasschaert: We are witnessing a rising Iraq in the fields of service provision and reconstruction
Fri 17 May 2024, 4:31 am by Rocky