The Iraqis are preoccupied with the “insane” rise in exchange rates and the developments of the “theft of the century.”
Baghdad: The rapid rise in the exchange rates of the dollar and the consequent insane rise in the prices of commodities and foodstuffs, in addition to the recent developments in what has become known as the “theft of the century”, are the most important concerns that dominate the Iraqi popular space these days after the end of the Arab Gulf Football Championship. In which the Iraqis were busy during the past two weeks, and Iraq was crowned champion of its 25th session.
The widespread public interest in these two issues put more pressure on the government of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’a al-Sudani, whose government’s top priority was paying attention to the dollar’s exchange rates and fighting corruption.
The increasing pressure prompts the Sudanese prime minister to take advantage of any occasion to explain his government’s viewpoint on the issues of the exchange rate and the fight against corruption. The official, and this is part of an economic overall that needs a courageous response and effective solutions to end the wrong financial policies that the current government inherited.
He added, “We have taken a number of bold decisions to support and stabilize the Iraqi dinar, and we warn those who try to exploit the crisis and play on people’s needs.”
He continued, “The exchange rate did not rise as a result of a government decision, but rather because there were those who took advantage of the temporary conditions and turmoil in the markets that are not yet familiar with dealing with the new banking mechanisms, which will preserve the funds, which is an important step on the path to economic reform.”
And regarding the issue of combating corruption and the great confusion that is taking place these days about the judicial decision to lift the seizure and suspension of one of the companies accused of theft of the century, Nour Zuhair, Al-Sudani stressed “the priority of combating corruption, and our government continues to assign it to the judiciary and the competent authorities to pursue those wanted and work to recover the looted funds.”
Local financial and economic experts are talking about the effects of the US Federal Bank’s decision to reduce the amount of money (dollars) it gives to Iraq every month from Iraqi oil money deposited in US banks, as the “Federal” has recently resorted to a strict scrutiny of Iraq’s foreign imports, in an attempt to suspected operations Counterfeiting and smuggling large amounts of currency to neighboring countries, especially Iran, by providing Iraqi local banks with forged certificates and import documents to the Central Bank of Iraq to obtain large amounts of money to be paid in US dollars.
In this direction, the expert and professor of economics at the University of Basra, Nabil Al-Marsoumi, saw in a post yesterday that “the only solution currently available to stop the deterioration of the exchange rate of the dinar against the dollar lies in the formation of a high-level government delegation headed by Al-Sudani or the Minister of Finance with the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq and traveling to Washington to discuss the possibility of postponing work on the electronic platform at the US Federal Bank for a period ranging from 6 months to a year, which prohibits 80 percent or more of daily dollar transfers to Iraq.
He added that the transfers “previously totaled more than $250 million on some days, due, among other things, to insufficient information regarding the destination of these funds or due to other errors.” Some specialists speak of a decrease in the level of transfers to less than 50 million dollars, which caused the large increase.
The rise in the exchange rates of the dollar and its crossing of the ceiling of 1,650 dinars against one dollar, was reflected in the form of an insane rise in the prices of commodities and foodstuffs, which rose in some cases to double, especially in basic materials, such as edible oil, flour and sugar.
Yesterday, the Iraqi authorities resorted to a massive campaign of arrests of speculators and exchange offices in the Kifah and Shorja markets in an attempt to curb the rise in the price of the dollar, which created great turmoil in the markets and prompted many merchants to direct harsh criticism of the Sudanese government, and they see that it is trying to cover up its failure to restore The stability of exchange rates, which is expected to touch the ceiling of 2000 dinars per dollar in the coming days.
In turn, the Central Bank of Iraq confirmed, yesterday, Saturday, that the use of electronic payment tools will be circulated in the government and private sectors in a binding manner, in an attempt to obtain the Iraqi dinar, as most Iraqis prefer to deal with “cash” and keep their money in homes and do not trust dealing with Governmental and private banks.
The deputy governor of the bank, Ammar Hamad Khalaf, said in a statement to the official Iraqi News Agency, “The cabinet’s decision to activate electronic payment in all joints aims to reduce the use of “cash” and increase dealing with funds electronically through the use of cards, which is an important complement to the salary localization project that began its implementation since several years”.
He added, “The decision will enable the bank to implement a mechanism that enables employees to receive their salaries through the payment cards currently used, such as the MasterCard, and it is filled in their bank balance without the need to receive money (cash).”
He stressed that “payment via electronic devices will reduce cash circulation, and it is better in terms of saving money and safer than transferring it.”
In another development, about 50 deputies in the Federal Parliament collected signatures to amend the customs tariff on foodstuffs due to the high exchange rate of the dollar, which led to negative effects on foodstuffs and consumer goods.
The deputy head of the Parliamentary Investment and Development Committee, Hussein Al-Sabri, said, in press statements, that “a group of deputies in various committees collected signatures regarding the amendment of the customs tariff.
Aawsat.com