Baghdad – IA
The Iraqi Private Banks Association said today, Friday, that the battle with dollar speculators has reached its final round, and while it praised the Central Bank’s measures to regulate the movement of funds to achieve financial and bank reform, it confirmed that it will contribute to reclassifying banks, increasing their capital and raising the level of services provided to citizens.
The association’s economic and banking advisor, Samir Al-Nusairi, told the (INA): “The Central Bank’s measures and efforts that have been made since the beginning of 2023, with the support of the government, have yielded results and begun to give results according to what was planned, and the so-called parallel (black) dollar has begun to die and speculators have been besieged.” “Those who deal with it to harm the national economy, and currently the battle is with them in the final round.”
He added, “This is what was stated in detailed procedures and administrative, technical and negotiating steps with the US Federal Bank and the US Treasury Department and the understandings related to regulating foreign trade financing by approving the opening of accounts for Iraqi banks in American, Chinese, Emirati and Turkish correspondent banks to deal directly with them for foreign transfers in the currencies of these countries, which includes… The dollar, the euro, the Chinese yuan, the Indian rupee, the Emirati dirham, and the Turkish lira, and leaving the electronic platform in the year 2024, and supplying the dollar and foreign currencies into Iraq from Iraqi bank accounts at correspondent banks or abroad.”
Al-Nusairi confirmed, “Agreements have been reached to open 40 accounts for Iraqi banks in correspondent banks for foreign trade,” noting that “the Central Bank’s new strategy to reform the banking sector will adopt the reclassification of banks and increase their capital to the ceiling set by the Central Bank in accordance with the specified timelines until the end of 2024, which It will increase the capabilities of our banks to provide the best banking products and services to customers, which will reflect positively on the movement of the economy, investment, development and the transition to comprehensive digital transformation.”
He added, “Since the beginning of the year 2023, financial policies have been reconsidered according to a new vision for banking reform that complies with the requirements of the global financial system, and a new strategy has begun to be implemented with mechanisms based on studying and diagnosing the causes of the imbalance and determining the road map, steps, and executive procedures that have been and will be applied at the level of the central bank departments, banks, and entities.” Supporting banking work and government agencies related to comprehensive economic reform, as the Central Bank had previously issued new instructions for external transfers for the year 2023 and three procedural packages to facilitate and control the circulation of foreign currency in the monetary and commercial market.
Al-Nusairi continued, “In August of this year, the Central Bank issued its important statement in which it defined its new strategy for organizing foreign trade financing according to new foundations that will move Iraq to the stage of regularity in the global financial system, and in which it clarified the executive procedures to control the stability of the exchange rate, and among the most prominent things stated in it are: adopting The electronic platform is exclusively for foreign transfer transactions, controlling illicit trade through official and unofficial border crossings, stopping trading and transactions in dollars on the black market, preventing all websites and media television channels from publishing exchange rates on the black market due to their violation of the law, and importers proving that all their imports were made through the platform and at the official price. The Customs Authority and the General Tax Authority have implemented proposals and treatments for small merchants to enter the platform in accordance with the rules, and this is consistent with the government’s initiative to launch the national project to control prohibited imports.”
He continued, “As we are in the last days of 2023, the Central Bank’s strategy for banking reform in all its axes has become clear in terms of the coming year 2024 and subsequent years, and it is an embodiment of what it specified in the road map that it clarified in cooperation with the government in accordance with what was stated in the government curriculum in Axis 12 (Financial and Banking Reform) and paragraph 7 of it, which is related to developing and enabling banks to contribute to development and investment.”
He explained, “Here we can summarize the Central Bank’s plan, which it is currently working to implement with precision, as follows: –
First – Providing a stable financial system lies in accompanying financial electronic systems.
Second: Commitment to establishing the rules of compliance, risk management, transparency, and soundness of financial operations.
Third – The transition from the cash economy to the digital economy and what is called the fourth revolution and the accompanying measures that achieved a qualitative shift in the dealings between the government and the central bank.
Fourth – Implementing the financial and banking reform plan that is characterized by international standards that keep pace with global developments in the field of the financial digital economy.
Fifth – Working to strengthen international relations, including establishing a network of relations with foreign correspondent banks.
Sixth: Establishing Riyada Bank in line with the Prime Minister’s initiative and redirecting work on initiatives to finance small and medium enterprises in accordance with specific standards.
Seventh: Preparing and launching a financial inclusion strategy and putting it into effect in coordination with the relevant authorities.
Eighth – Launching the national lending strategy, relying on the banks’ own financial capabilities to attract deposits and invest them in providing the best banking products to customers and contributing to development.