Iraq Business News brings you the latest Iraq banking & finance news, with information on developments and opportunities.
The United States and Iraq today announced that the bilateral United States-Iraq Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), first negotiated in 2005, is likely to enter into force later this year, providing a bilateral forum devoted to fostering greater trade and investment between our two countries. The announcement follows the Iraq Council of Representatives’ recent […]
By John Lee. Iraq's finance minister Rafaie Al-Esawi [Rafe Al-Issawi, Rafie al-Issawi] (pictured) has announced his resignation on Friday morning, according to a report from Reuters. Addressing crowds of Sunni Muslim protesters in the Sunni heartland of Anbar, he said: "I came today in order to announce my resignation from this government in front of you […]
By John Lee. The President of Kurdistan Region, Massoud Barzani (pictured), has approved the budget for 2013, officials from Ministry of Justice from KRG said. This follows the budget's approval last week by a majority of the Kurdistan parliament. (Sources: Kurdsat, AIN)
By John Lee. A member of the Shiite-dominated National alliance coalition told a press conference at the weekend that Iraq is losing almost $27 million per day because delays in agreeing the budget. Haider Abadi, Chairman of the parliamentary Finance Committee, is reported as insisting that the budget is issued as soon as possible. Iraq’s […]
By John Lee. The Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Osama Al-Nujeifi [Usama al-Nujaifi] (pictured), said on Thursday that negotiations with leaders of the political blocs on the state budget for 2013 have entered a "blind alley", according to KUNA news agency. He blamed the deadlock on disputes among the parliamentary blocs on allocations for the […]
FEDRERAL BUDGET 2013 - DETAILS AND CHALLENGES The Iraqi Institute for Economic Reform (IIER) has the pleasure of inviting you to attend the above seminar to discuss the details of the Federal Budget and the challenges facing its implementation. In attendance there will be Members of Parliament, government officials, Iraqi economic experts, academics as well […]
In line with its international expansion, Banque Libano-Française (BLF) has opened its first branch in Iraq. The BLF branch, located on the Outer Karrada main street in Baghdad, will serve Lebanese and Iraqi businessmen as well as international companies operating in this growing and dynamic market, which has traditionally been one of Lebanon’s main destinations […]
By John Lee. British bank Standard Chartered is to apply to Iraqi regulators for permission to open three business branches in Baghdad, Basra and Erbil. Chief executive of wholesale banking, Mike Rees (pictured), told The Telegraph: "Associated with the name British is trust ... It is a very important brand which I think is underestimated. But […]
The U.S. Mission in Iraq, through the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Financial Development Project, is working with the Iraqi banking industry to help banks improve best practices. The U.S. Mission invited seven banks from across Iraq for the January 21-28 launch of the first in a series of 20 training seminars in […]
By John Lee. The General Secretariat of Iraq's Council of Ministers has ruled out the replacement of the currency or cancellation of three zeros "at this stage", and it is seeking to raise the value of the dinar against the dollar. The Secretary General of the Council of Ministers said that the project to replace […]
By John Lee. Asiacell’s share sale has been fully subscribed before its closing date, according to the IPO’s organizer. Shwan Ibrahim Taha, chairman of Rabee Securities, confirmed to Bloomberg News: "The offering is now comfortably covered with a good mix of retail and institutional demand from within Iraq as well as institutional and high net […]
By John Lee. The United Nations' Joint Analysis Policy Unit (JAPU) has issued a background paper on Iraq's budget for 2013. The Government expenditure for 2013 totals IQD 138.4 Trillion ($ 118.3 Billion), with an increase of 18% over 2012 and exceeding 70% of GDP. The budget has three main headings: Energy, Security / Defense […]
