CBI announces the increase in the volume of foreign reserves and the internal debt of Iraq

Baghdad-INA 

The Central Bank of Iraq indicated a group of opportunities and challenges facing the Iraqi economy, while announcing that the volume of internal debt had increased to about 70 trillion dinars, and the volume of foreign reserves to 113 billion dollars.

The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Ammar Khalaf, said in a speech during the Sixth Annual Conference on Finance and Banking Services, which was attended by the correspondent of the Iraqi News Agency (INA): “The Central Bank of Iraq has a fundamental role in financial and economic stability, as this year witnessed many and many changes to contribute to towards achieving stability in Iraq.

Khalaf added, "There are many opportunities for the Iraqi economy, the central bank, all ministries and the private sector, including the growth of gross domestic product and the achievement of a surplus in the general budget law affected by global oil prices, and an increase in the volume of deposits and credit in general, as well as the increase in foreign reserves to 113 billion dollars.".

He pointed out that “despite these opportunities, there are challenges, including the approval of the budget law of a very large size, in which public expenditures reach 198 billion, as planned for this year, and also with a fiscal deficit amounting to 64 trillion dinars, and this in itself represents a challenge for the economy and the central bank.” Iraq in particular.

He pointed out that "there is another challenge, which is the increase in the internal debt, which amounted to about 70 trillion dinars, and this represents a challenge to the monetary authority, as well as the financial authority in the mechanism of managing this debt, because it represents great pressure on the various monetary policy tools.".

He continued: "In the previous edition of the Fifth Conference, we mentioned the importance of electronic payment and the important performance it represents to achieve economic growth, financial inclusion and financial depth, and we emphasized that there must be a compulsion to adopt its tools, as it was achieved this year through the great support of The current Iraqi government and the great efforts launched by the Central Bank of Iraq, and we have recently witnessed a great movement by the public as well as the private sector in adopting electronic payment tools, and this is a very important thing for achieving economic growth and financial affairs in Iraq.

And he added, "In this field, we notice an increase in electronic payment tools, for example, the number of different cards increased from 6 million cards to 16 million, as well as the number of payment devices from 918 devices to more than 10 thousand devices, as well as an increase in the number of electronic payment devices." Automated teller machines (ATMs) from 656 machines to more than 2000 machines, and they are constantly increasing.

 There is also an increase in the number of open and effective electronic wallets from 222 thousand wallets to more than 3 million wallets, and this represents a real transition for the sector.

He stressed that "the Central Bank of Iraq has sufficient flexibility in adopting appropriate monetary policies, as it worked this year on a number of changes in various monetary policy tools, for example, it raised the policy rate from 4-7.5%, as well as raising the interest rate on central bank tools." Iraqi from 3-4 until it reached 7.5%, as well as raising the legal reserve ratio from 15-18%,” pointing out that “all these different tools seek to manage excess cash liquidity in addition to what the electronic platform is doing by achieving the surplus liquidity resulting from Increase public spending.