Iraq Business News brings you the latest Iraq banking & finance news, with information on developments and opportunities.
Iraq's core annual inflation rose to 1.9 percent in August from 1.7 percent in July, according to Reuters, quoting an official at the Central Bank. "The core inflation is stable, this is a normal rise due to the increase of food prices during the month of Ramadan," sais Mudher Kasim, a senior adviser in the […]
Various websites are quoting the Governor of Iraq's Central Bank, Mohammed Salih, as saying the he wants to delete three zeros from the Iraqi currency after the formation of the new Iraqi government. In a reported interview with “Alsumaria News”, he said the amount of Iraqi dinars in circulation has increased from 25 billion in […]
An unusual feature of many of the listed Iraqi banks is that investments account for a greater share of their deposits than loans. This is true, for example, of Mansour Bank (BMNS), National Bank of Iraq (BNOI), Commercial Bank of Iraq (BCOI), Gulf Commercial Bank (BGUC), Bank of Baghdad (BBOB), and Middle East Investment Bank […]
The Erbil Stock Market will start trading during the first quarter of 2011, the project’s executive director said on Tuesday, explaining that the market startup capital will be around $10 million. “This market should become the strategic axis that will transform the economy of Kurdistan from relying on oil revenues to producing income through local […]
The Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISX) will be closed from September 9-13 due to the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Fitr. Trading will resume on September 14. Border crossings and airports in Kurdistan will remain open.
Last month, Central Bank of Iraq governor Al-Shibibi told AFP he was hoping foreign banks would play a bigger role in developing Iraq’s financial system. From the banks’ point of view, he said, “the prospects are good, except for security.” But the foreign institutions that have already entered the Iraqi market through investments in local […]
Starting September 1, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has announced it will be reducing the required reserve rate (RRR) from 20% to 15%. As this move frees up an additional 5% of deposits for the banks to lend out, you might think it would be positive for loan growth and stimulative for the economy […]
Iraq's core inflation continued to slow in July, dropping to an annual rate of 1.7 percent from 2.7 percent in June, a central bank official said on Monday, according to a report from Reuters. The bank gave no immediate explanation for the fall in core inflation, which excludes expenditures on fuel. To spur investment and […]
AFP reports that Iraq's privately-owned banks have called for the country's state-owned lenders to be privatised, to break up a near monopoly in lending by politicians whose actions remain stuck in the Saddam-era. Although foreign cash has flowed in since the US-led invasion of 2003, ministers still opt to use government banks to do business […]
On August 8, the Iraq Securities Commission (ISC) announced that a total of 18 companies would be suspended for failing to submit their 2009 financials. Of these, 6 had already been suspended for never having submitted 2008 financials. (See the table for a complete list of the companies.) As of August 25, only four of […]
There has been much speculation in recent months that the Iraqi dinar would be re-based, knocking off the last three zeros. The lastest news is that Iraq will not in fact remove the zeros from its currency, because it will not resolve inflation and will create opportunities for corruption, reports AKnews, citing a senior source […]
Iraq’s central bank has decided to cut commercial banks’ reserve requirement to 15 percent from 20 percent, in order to spur bank lending as core inflation continues to slow, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing a Central Bank of Iraq official. Mudher Kasim, a senior advisor in the bank, said the central bank made the move […]
