Iraq Business News brings you the latest Iraq banking & finance news, with information on developments and opportunities.
By John Lee. The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI), Mustafa Ghaleb Mokhif, received the US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski and her accompanying delegation on Monday. He reviewed the efforts of the CBI to support development through monetary policy tools and the direct impact of its initiatives on the real sector progress, […]
By John Lee. Fitch Ratings has assigned the Sumer Commercial Bank (SCB) a Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'CCC+', and Viability Rating (VR) at 'ccc+'. It says the rating reflects the bank's "weak operating environment, limited franchise, unstable business model and weak profitability". More here. (Source: Fitch Ratings)
By John Lee. Al Sanam Islamic Bank, a newly-established Islamic bank in Iraq, has selected ICS BANKS Islamic Banking software solution from ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS). The signing ceremony took place at ICSFS' centre of excellence, Amman, Jordan. According to a press release, Al Sanam Islamic Bank will provide comprehensive, Shari'a-compliant financing products and services […]
By John Lee. Fitch Ratings has said that Iraq's government debt is set to fall steeply as a share of GDP in 2022, bringing it to pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels. It adds that while this is positive for the sovereign's creditworthiness, the decline may not be sustainable, as it partly reflects political tensions that have constrained […]
By John Lee. The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) has said that there is no justification for changing the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar relative to the US dollar. CBI Deputy Governor, Ammar Khalaf, confirmed to the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) that, "in our belief as a monetary authority, there is no justification […]
By John Lee. Fitch Ratings has assigned the Kurdistan International Islamic Bank (KIIB) a Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'CCC+', and Viability Rating (VR) at 'ccc+'. It says the rating reflects the bank's "weak franchise, unstable business model and operations in the highly volatile operating environment of Iraq". More here. (Source: Fitch Ratings)
By John Lee. ZoodPay has announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Shopini, a leading Iraqi company in retail, e-commerce, shipping, supply chain, and food delivery. According to a statement, the company has one of the major online marketplaces in Iraq with over one million downloads, a network of offline stores in […]
By John Lee. Iraq's Minister of Finance has directed the Agricultural Cooperative Bank to postpone the payment of debts owed by farmers for a period of two years. Dr. Ali Allawi (pictured) said: "Based on Article Thirteen of the Food Security Law, it was decided to postpone for a period of two years the collection […]
The President and Chairman of the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) has said that he expects it will be "a number of years" before payment processing services such as Paypal and Stripe will be able to operate in Iraq. Responding to a question from Iraq Business News (IBN) at the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC)'s […]
Diebold Nixdorf has announced that Al Qurtas Islamic Bank is the first to deploy its DN Series ATMs in Iraq. The bank's ATMs will be monitored by Vynamic View software to detect and prevent downtime, optimize performance and reduce costs for the bank. Sara Ahmad, chief executive officer at Al Qurtas Islamic Bank, said: "We […]
By John Lee. Fitch Ratings has assigned the Erbil-based Region Trade Bank for Investment and Finance Private Shareholding (RTB) a Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'CCC+', and Viability Rating (VR) at 'ccc+'. It says the privately-owned bank has minimal market shares in Iraq, no competitive advantages and limited distribution capabilities. More here. (Source: Fitch […]
The Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) hosted the largest attendance for their Spring conference at the Mansion house on 24th May, with just under 300 attendees, half of whom came from Iraq. Widely considered a success, the overall theme was 'sustaining economic growth in Iraq', There were multiple panels and roundtable sessions; including four panels […]
