Iraq Economic News and Points to Ponder Thursday Afternoon 12-14-23
Tlm724 Administrator Bondlady’s Corner
Economic Expectations That The Dollar Will Lose 20% Of Its Economic Power Early Next Year
December 13 14:10 Information / Baghdad..The Diyala Chamber of Commerce confirmed, on Wednesday, that the dollar will lose 20% of its influence in Iraqi markets during 2024.
The head of the Diyala Chamber of Commerce, Muhammad Al-Tamimi, said in an interview with Al-Maalouma, “Washington used the dollar 4 times during 2023 to pressure Baghdad to achieve a political agenda, which led to provoking crises and raising prices at rates of up to 10%, especially for basic materials, due to the influence of the dollar’s liquidity and its control.” About 90% of transactions are done directly.
He added, “The openness of the Sudanese government and its adoption of a basket of other currencies to cover foreign exchanges is a step in the right direction,” pointing out that
“the dollar will lose 20% of its influence in the markets during 2024 due to companies and traders resorting to a basket of currencies, including the Chinese yuan, the euro, and others.”
He pointed out that “Baghdad’s pressure to end the dollarization of Iraqi markets and adopt electronic trading will have a positive impact in reducing the demand for the dollar, which will give flexibility and stability to the exchange rate.”
In the past months, the Iraqi markets suffered from instability in the dollar exchange rates and its direct impact on the markets. Ended 25 February
Visa” Cooperates With The “Exchange” And “Earthlink” Companies To Educate The Iraqi Consumer About The Advantages Of Digital Payments
Money and business Economy News – Baghdad The leading global company in the field of digital payments, Visa, cooperated with the payment services provider, “Exchange,” and the largest Internet service provider, “Earthlink” (the National Internet Project), to organize an awareness campaign in the form of a training workshop to educate Iraqis about the advantages of digital payments.
This initiative comes as a continuation of the ongoing awareness campaign organized by Visa for merchants and consumers in cooperation with the Central Bank of Iraq and with the support of Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani.
The workshop, which was launched on November 15, 2023 and required the personal attendance of participants, aims to train the Earthlink team/agents, who in turn will be able to educate their user base, which exceeds 2 million users.
The training will cover various topics, including the use of cards in daily transactions via points of sale, e-commerce, as well as the use of cards in ATMs.
In addition, participants will receive guidance on how to make informed financial decisions and the security of digital payments.
As part of the campaign, a strategic initiative to introduce a co-branded prepaid card in collaboration with Earthlink is currently being implemented.
The initiative aims to provide additional benefits to Earthlink users and agents participating in the electronic payment system.
To stimulate participation, Al-Tabadul and Earthlink will encourage agents and users to obtain the Al-Tabadul Visa card and facilitate their membership payments through the card.
Commenting on the matter, Laila Sarhan, Regional Director and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors to lead the company’s business in North Africa, the Levant countries and Pakistan, said:
“At Visa, we believe that strategic partnerships play a crucial role in achieving financial inclusion.
Therefore, we are excited to cooperate with the two companies, the Exchange.” ‘ and ‘Earthlink’ (the National Internet Project) to empower and support the Iraqi consumer.
Over the past few years, Visa has collaborated closely with the Central Bank of Iraq and key players in the sector, in line with the goals of Iraq Vision 2030 to promote financial inclusion within a diversified economy.
“Our mission is to connect the world through an innovative, reliable and secure payment network, to enable individuals, businesses and economies to thrive.
The electronic payment awareness campaign is another step in this direction.”
For his part, Ahmed Shaker, CEO of Al-Tabadul, said: “We realize that many users in Iraq still use cash transactions, which can be inconvenient and risky, keeping them excluded from the formal financial sector.
We are pleased to cooperate today with Visa.” And ‘Earthlink’ to enhance awareness of digital payment options and integrate the Iraqi people into a financially inclusive environment.
Our goal through the campaign is to reach more than two million Iraqis within the ‘Earthlink’ network (the national internet project), to support Iraq’s progress in the field of strengthening the digital economy.”
Visa has always embraced innovation to lead the way in building the largest, most dynamic and global open global network of technology, partnerships and people.
In Iraq, Visa has led several initiatives and collaboration projects, marking an important milestone with the introduction of the country’s first digital payment and multi-currency cards.
Views 164 Added 12/13/2023 – https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=38454
Evaluation Of The Iraqi Economy
Economic 12/12/2023 Yasser Al-Metwally There are indicators that enable the economic analyst to judge the economy of any country whether it is thriving, tired, or shrinking.
The real standard and basic indicator for evaluating the state of the economy, whether it is shrinking or thriving, is the purchasing power in that country.
Whenever the rate of consumption rises, it indicates economic recovery for the country, and vice versa, when the level of consumption decreases, it means that the country’s economy is shrinking (tired).
In light of this economic theory, how do we evaluate the state of the Iraqi economy?
Our assessment of the state of the Iraqi economy, regardless of the economic performance, is another matter.
The reality of the distortions in the structure of the Iraqi economy puts the analyst at a loss in assessing the economic situation, and this assessment is the basis for helping the economic policy maker to take sound and correct decisions to achieve balanced growth that sustains the recovery or treats it. Shrinkage.
But the structural distortion that afflicts our national economy puts everyone in a maze of miscalculation and planning.
Therefore, the economic reform process in the country faces challenges of this kind that hinder its achievement, and I mean the economic reform that we seek.
What complicates the economic scene most and hinders successful solutions is the absence of accurate statistics and numbers, which I previously discussed in a previous article here in Al-Sabah Economics, which was titled The Deception of Economic Numbers.
It is noted that most of the announced statistics are estimated and unrealistic, giving a distorted picture.
For example, the figures for unemployment rates, the poverty rate, the size of inflation, and the lives of the Iraqi population are also estimated due to the absence of a general population census for nearly four decades.
This is the second indicator of assessing the state of the Iraqi economy..
Perhaps the closest example of the blurring of the Iraqi economic landscape is when you look at consumption rates by all standards
Whether in basic or luxury goods, and the level of accelerating development in the expansion of urban expansion, whether in housing projects, malls, and restaurants, in addition to that, surplus goods and commodities littering the streets and sidewalks and filling warehouses without planning indicate to you that there is a major economic recovery.
On the other hand, when you read and hear about poverty rates and the estimated size of unemployment, it indicates to you that the economy is tired.
The reason for this contradiction is certainly the absence of accurate and true statistics, which confuses the government in addressing the conditions of the fragile and poor classes in a way that achieves social well-being for all.
From all of this, we conclude that assessing the state of the Iraqi economy is illogical and is the reason for distorting its true picture.
This indicator hinders the government in addressing poverty and unemployment and assessing actual needs, so the losses are many, which affects the possibility of correcting the structural distortion of the economy.
There are many examples.
There are many who appropriate shares of vulnerable classes to benefit from support decisions without entitlement.
If these losses were allocated to the deserving, it could eliminate poverty and reduce unemployment rates.
The greatest evidence is that there are cases discovered from time to time in large numbers that are not eligible for social welfare salaries, for example, and do not apply to them.
Controls for those included, and even the ration card, include many who do not deserve it, affecting the share of the poor, as many cases have been discovered and other categories are still not eligible.
The conclusion is that only the general population census can solve the problem of real numbers and significantly reduce poverty rates while the margins of standard errors in statistics remain valid and in accordance with the accuracy of the information and statistics. https://alsabaah.iq/88722-.html
Taxes Announce The Adoption Of Electronic Payment To Pay Money Early Next Year
Economy News – Baghdad The General Tax Authority announced, on Monday, the adoption of electronic payment in a binding manner for the payment of taxes, starting from January 1 of the new year 2024, while confirming the start of implementing the self-assessment system for the first time in Iraq.
The head of the authority, Ali Waad Allawi, said in a statement reported by the official news agency, and seen by Al-Iqtisad News, that“the tax authority seeks to complete the implementation of the automation system, with great support from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, to develop the work and transform it from the paper system to the comprehensive electronic tax system.”
He added, “Achieving this goal requires the completion of electronic steps that began with the generalization of electronic payment, which is now applied in all branches of the authority in Baghdad, and has been applied by 50% in the central and southern governorates and a number of northern governorates.”
He continued, “The Tax Authority is working to implement electronic payment in all its branches in Baghdad and the governorates during the coming period, and this is the first step,” pointing out,
“The second step will be to approve the self-assessment in the General Authority for Taxes.” He pointed out, “Iraq was the only country that did not implement the self-assessment system until two months ago, when it was implemented in the tax authority through a comprehensive electronic system.”
He stressed, “As of January 1, 2024, taxpayers and taxpayers will be obligated to pay what they owe through the electronic payment system.
This work will reduce human intervention, rates of extortion and corruption, and speed up the completion of transactions.” Views 72 12/11/2023 https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=38400
Iraq Is Ranked 81st In The World In Terms Of Per Capita Carbon Emissions
Reports Economy News Iraq ranked 81st in the world and eighth in the Arab world in terms of its per capita share of carbon dioxide, according to the American magazine Ceoworld.
The magazine said in a report it reviewed that the major economies are not the biggest polluters, but countries whose economies depend on fossil fuels dominate per capita carbon emissions.
The magazine classified 216 countries with the highest and lowest per capita pollutants of carbon dioxide. According to the table, “Qatar ranked first in terms of carbon dioxide per capita, recording approximately 67.38 tons, Bahrain ranked second with 26.7 tons, and Kuwait ranked third with 25 tons per capita.”
The magazine noted that “Trinidad and Tobago ranked fourth with 23.7 tons per capita, Ronai came fifth with 23.5 tons per capita, the United Arab Emirates came in 21.8 tons per capita, New Caledonia ranked 19.10 tons, while the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranked eighth with 18.07 tons.” The Sultanate of Oman ranked ninth with 17.89 tons, and Australia came in tenth place with 15.1 tons.
The magazine stated that “Iraq ranked 81st globally and eighth in the Arab world, with 4.3 tons of carbon dioxide per capita.” The report continued, “Burundi was the lowest country in terms of the per capita share of carbon dioxide, as the per capita share was 0.01 tons, followed by Malawi with the same percentage.” Views 55 12/09/2023 – https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=38319
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Provoking Points To Ponder From Inspirational Movie Quotes
- You don’t need to hide yourself because you’re afraid of what others think of you. You have the choice to live your own life.
It is not our abilities that show what we truly are… it is our choices. – Dumbledore, from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Just keep going, you’ll make it one day.
“Run, Forrest, run!” – from Forrest Gump
- The least expected things happen at your least expected time in life.
My momma always said, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” – from Forrest Gump
- Never give up on your dream, fight your hardest for it.
Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something, not even me. Alright? You dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period. – Chris Gardner, from The Pursuit of Happyness
- Don’t stuck in your own little world because the purpose of life is to explore and experience.
“To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, to draw closer, to find each other and to feel. That is the purpose of life.” – from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Ben Stiller in a still from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
- Stop trying to please everyone because it’s impossible. Do what makes you comfortable.
You cannot live your life to please others. The choice must be yours. – White Queen, from Alice in Wonderland
Continued ………. More to come in next news post