He continued, “There has been some arbitrary actions by the Integrity Commission regarding the Central Bank file, especially regarding the charges against its former chief, Shabibi, who is an internationally renowned economic figure. Some of the Integrity Commission’s actions regarding the Central Bank issue were hasty. It was an attempt by the cabinet to impose its control over the Central Bank, contrary to the constitution, which places the Central Bank under parliament, not the cabinet.”
Alwani believes that “some political parties are giving cover to some private banks in Iraq to withdraw foreign currency from the Central Bank with false documents. I will not deny this charge, even for figures who are with me in the Iraqiya List, but I do not have the documentation to prove it.”
Alwani said that “some political figures are definitely implicated with a number of private banks in the auction. The proof is that these figures have valuable accounts and real-estate properties outside Iraq. We received information from a number of countries indicating the existence of real-estate properties and bank accounts for a number of Iraqi officials and politicians, but I do not have documents to condemn a particular person, whether it be the Iraqi prime minister or anyone else. But when I identify those persons, I will not hesitate to announce it.”
Alwani said that “some lawmakers are not experts in following up on economic matters. They said that the Central Bank has lost millions of dollars since Abdul Basit Turki succeeded Shabibi. We believe that Turki is an honest professional, as attested by his friends and foes alike, and those who say otherwise are trying to make gains by pressuring the Central Bank.”
Omar al-Shaher is a contributor to Al-Monitor’s Iraq Pulse. His writing has appeared in a wide range of publications including France’s LeMonde, the Iraqi Alesbuyia magazine, Egypt’s Al-Ahaly and the Elaph website.
The problems with Abdel Basit Turki al-Sae'ed are
1) there is a conflict of interest as he also happens to be the Head of the Bureau of Supreme Audit (BSA). You cannot audit the CBI and be the Head of the CBI. But because the PM office wants to control the CBI, Turki was the best man to select.
2) he mis-managed the daily currency auction, creating a shortage of dollars in the market. The Dinar has gone down, it is trading at IQD1255=1USD when it used to be at IQD1196=1USD before Turki took over. It proves that Turki has no experience in monetary policy and/or currency stabilization.
3) he led an questionable audit in September 2012 of the central bank currency auctions convincing him that $800 million is "transferred illegally under false pretenses" outside of the country every week. Strange enough, since he took over the demand for dollars in the daily auction is still $800 million a week and his AML unit has not reported one single suspicious case until now.
The CBI has lost its independence unfortunately since Abdel Basit Turki took over, simply because he does not have the required background & knowledge and he is a "Yes " man to the PM office. Remember he is the "Acting" governor, i.e. he is acting like a governor of central bank but he is not one, and that suits the PM office really well.
Totally agree.
I think it is time to forget this RV thing altogether.
All the ingredients are there, the PM office controls the CBI as per political agendas, a new CBI puppet head, and an excess demand for foreign hard currency on the iraqi street.
I agree that it is frustrating waitng the for the "RV" to happen. Think of this, no country wants to rely on another contrie's currency. They would be foolish to do that. They want to control thier own destiny. It will happen, just wait. Unless you are in it for 100k or more, just ride it out.