The Ministerial Council for Economy recommends amending the wages and fees collected by the Central

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The Ministerial Council for Economy decided, on Monday, to recommend to the Council of Ministers to amend the fees and charges collected by the Central Agency for Standardization and Quality Control for all gold jewellery, as well as to increase the fees for marking bullion.

The media office of the Ministerial Council for the Economy stated in a statement, which was reviewed by "Economy News", that "Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein chaired on Monday the thirty-seventh session of the Ministerial Council for the Economy, which was held in the Council building in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning, the Ministers of Agriculture, Trade, Labor, Social Affairs and Industry, the Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, the Chairman of the Securities Commission, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil, and the Prime Minister's Advisors for Economic and Legal Affairs."

He added, "The Council discussed the items on its agenda and took the necessary decisions regarding them. The Advisor, Director of the Secretariat of the Ministerial Council for the Economy, reviewed the report of the special committee to study direct implementation projects in Salah al-Din Governorate, which was divided into six categories according to the financial achievement rates and the importance of the project according to the site inspection committees formed for this purpose. The Council recommended approving the committee's report and submitting it to the Council of Ministers for ratification."

He added that "the council hosted the head of the General Retirement Authority and the Director General of the Retirement Fund, and the head of the authority provided a detailed explanation of the reality of the work of the authority with regard to retirement deductions and the percentages of the government's contribution represented by the Ministry of Finance and the Fund, as well as the financial reality of the Fund," noting that "the government is moving towards diversifying the Fund's investments in order to increase financial flows and develop its capital. After extensive discussions, the Council reached an agreement to support diversifying the investments of the State Employees Retirement Fund, provided that it enters into guaranteed and low-risk investments in order to develop its capital."

He explained that "the Council also hosted the Deputy Mayor of Baghdad for Technical Affairs and the Director General of the Baghdad Sewerage Department to discuss the projects to rehabilitate the main Dora sewage pumping station and rehabilitate 22 pumping stations on the Rusafa side," adding that "the Council decided to recommend to the Council of Ministers to approve the exemption of the two aforementioned projects from the Council of Ministers' decision and to continue financing them from the World Bank loan, while ensuring the bank's commitment to financing and directing the Baghdad Municipality to complete them urgently due to their importance."

He added that "the Council approved the Ministry of Agriculture's request to ban the import of winter crops (lemon, cauliflower, lettuce, turnips, sugar beets) due to their availability locally and to open the import of watermelon and melon crops due to the halt in their cultivation inside the country," noting that "the Council decided to recommend to the Council of Ministers to amend the wages and fees collected by the Central Agency for Standardization and Quality Control based on the recommendation of the Study and Follow-up Committee to amend the wages and fees collected at border crossings for all gold jewelry, as well as to increase the fees for marking bullion."