Iraq Business News brings you the latest Iraq banking & finance news, with information on developments and opportunities.
By John Lee. The acting Finance Minister, Ali Yousef Shukri (pictured), is reported to have held a meeting with a representative of the World Bank to discuss the restructuring of the state-owned banks in Iraq. According to the report from NINA, the discussions related particularly to the Rasheed and Rafidain banks. (Source: NINA)
Businesses across the Middle East and North Africa will get a £4.5 million boost from the UK, Prime Minister David Cameron announced at the World Islamic Economic Forum on Tuesday. The UK’s funding to the Nomou business fund will be matched by the Shell Foundation to support ‘missing middle’ businesses - those too large for […]
By Amina al-Dahabi for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has been attempting to delete three zeros from the Iraqi currency since 2003. This project has raised many concerns among the Iraqi public and within the […]
By John Lee. ABC and Fairfax Media report that Note Printing Australia, which is owned by the Reserve Bank of Australia, tried to do business with the Saddam Hussein regime despite UN sanctions. Company officials are said to have visited Iraq in 1998, during the UN sanctions, to discuss a contract to replace the country's paper […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid has said that her work on a new Central Bank of Iraq headquarters is progressing. She was asked to build the new bank after a 2010 suicide attack on the existing building. But will she return to Iraq for the first time since 1980? She told Bloomberg: […]
By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraq plans to increase the combined capital of the only two governmental banks in the country, from about $23 million currently to about $360 million next year. Deputies in parliament say that […]
By John Lee. Standard Chartered has received approval from the Central Bank of Iraq to open branches, according to a report from The Standard. The London-based bank plans to open three branches in Baghdad and Erbil by the end of 2013 and Basra in 2014. It said its main aim is to meet the increasing […]
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has announced that its board has decided to "lift custody [guardianship]" over Warka Bank on August 25, 2013, following a final decision made by the Financial Services Court on 26th May, 2013. Warka Bank announced on its website that: "This decision comes in accordance with the […]
By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. According to an Iraqi financial expert, the value of Iraq’s federal reserves currently amounts to about $80 billion, following the recent increase in the country’s oil exports. Nevertheless, no information was […]
By Omar al-Shaher for Al-Monitor. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Political and economic Iraqi circles confirm the presence of extensive money-laundering operations in Iraq. Weak monitoring systems and political conflicts of interest, however, prevent the exposure of these operations. These same […]
By John Lee. UK-based bank Standard Chartered is counting on the assistance of the British government to help it to open branches in Iraq by the end of the year, according to a report from The National. The newspaper says the company plans to open three branches in the next eighteen months, to tap into […]
On Monday, the Central Bank of Iraq announced the increase of its US Dollar sales during Monday's auction after reaching $16278000 last Sunday. "The total US Dollars sold by the bank amounted to $288639000 at price of 1166 IQD per US dollar during the auction, which included the participation of twenty-four banks," CBI reported in a […]
