Iraq Business News brings you the latest Iraq banking & finance news, with information on developments and opportunities.
By John Lee. Sinan al-Shabibi (pictured), the former head Iraq's Central Bank who was removed for suspected mismanagement and currency manipulation, has dismissed the charges against him as baseless and trumped up. Speaking to AFP, he said authorities had compromised the bank's independence to access its reserves, adding that the government had been "spoiled" by […]
By John Lee. Dana Gas, the Middle East’s first and largest regional private sector natural gas company, has announced that it has reached an in-principle agreement on the restructuring terms of the US$1 billion Sukuk-al-Mudarabah due 31 October 2012 with the Ad Hoc Committee of Sukukholders. The Ad Hoc Committee holds a majority of the […]
Izumi Kobayashi, Executive Vice President of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) -- the political risk insurance arm of the World Bank Group -- will visit Iraq, Jordan, and the West Bank and Gaza in early November. During her visit, she will discuss opportunities for private sector investment and raise awareness of how MIGA's investment […]
By John Lee. Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes is planning to expand into Turkey, Iraq and Libya, according to a report from Reuters. The company also plans to grow its asset management arm by 50 percent after the completion of its joint venture with Qatar's QInvest. QInvest will hold 60 per cent and EFG's holding […]
By John Lee. The yield on Iraqi bonds has fallen more than three times as much as the average Middle Eastern bond, reports Bloomberg. From the start of June to the end of October, the rate on 5.8 percent dollar-denominated Iraqi government bonds maturing in January 2028 has fallen by 216 basis points to 6.48 […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi government has decided to grant both Sudan and Yemen a total of $15 million. The Republic of Sudan is to get $10 million in the form of direct funding to Sudan's federal budget for FY 2013. "The funds will be channeled to the post-conflict rehabilitation in Darfur region, west Sudan," […]
By John Lee. Dana Gas may become the first United Arab Emirates (UAE) company to fail to pay an Islamic bond on maturity, according to a report from Reuters which cites "three sources familiar with the matter". Shares in the UAE's largest listed natural gas firm fell more than 4% on the Abu Dhabi Securites […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Interior Ministry says its forces have stormed Central Bank building in Baghdad and arrested 36 officials on suspicion of corruption. “A security force belonging to the ministry implemented an arrest warrant issued by the judicial council against a numerous officials of the Central Bank without any problem,” the ministry said in […]
By John Lee. Iraqi MP and member of the Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee, Nahida al-Dayni, has ruled out deleting the zeros from the Iraqi currency soon. Speaking to All Iraqi News Agency (AIN), she said: "The process of deleting the zeros from the Iraqi currency will not be done soon due to the lack […]
The Iraqi Council of Ministers has approved a draft budget of 138 trillion dinars ($115 billion) for 2013, an 18 percent increase on this year’s spending programme. The figures are based on expected average oil prices of $90 per barrel, and exports of 2.9 million barrels of oil per day, of which 250 thousand bpd […]
From October 23 - 24, 2012, the U.S. Mission in Iraq, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and in cooperation with the Iraqi Microfinance Network, will host the Inclusive Financial Services Stakeholders’ Conference at the Rotana Hotel in Erbil. The conference theme is “Iraqi Microfinance – The Path to Economic and Social Advancement”. […]
Perhaps the biggest story of recent days was the shock dismissal of the Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), Sinan al-Shabibi, and the issuing of arrest warrants for him and many of his staff. The nature of the allegations against Mr Shabibi are not entirely clear, but appear to center around manipulation of […]
