Al-Qaeda Believed to be Behind Iraqi Dinar Racket
AKnews reports that businesses and currency traders are rejecting 10,000 dinar notes because of rumours about the increasing spread of counterfeit currency. Government sources said last year that an estimated 7 billion dinars worth of forged 10,000 notes came into Iraq from Iran. The fake currency is said to is said to be of high […]
Kirkuk to Spend $160m on 3 Power Plants
A member of Kirkuk Provincial Council has announced that there new power plants will soon be installed in the province. Fuad Hussein said the decision was made after the deputy electricity minister met the Council. An Iranian company will install two 196MW plants in Dubiz district, while a South Korean company will install the other 293MW […]
January Crude Oil Exports Slightly Down
Iraq's oil exports declined slightly in January compared to the previous month, according to both Dow Jones and Associated Press. Exports averaged 2.107 million barrels per day in January, compared to 2.145 million bpd in December. Sales grossed $7.123 billion based on an average price of $109.081 per barrel, up from December's figure of $7.061 […]
Iraq OKs Petrofac's $330m Oilfield Tender
Reuters reports that Iraq's cabinet has approved a $329.8 million tender with British oil service firm Petrofac for the country's Badra oilfield. Petrofac plans to build a major crude processing facility to help production at the field to reach 170,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) in 2017, a target which was set by Iraq's […]
$17m for Kurdistan's Stadiums and Sports Centres
Seventeen stadiums in Iraqi Kurdistan are to be renovated, and new sports centres will be created, at a total cost of 20 billion Iraqi dinars ($17m), reports AKnews. 4.6 billion Iraqi dinars ($3.9m) will be used to refurbish stadiums in and around Erbil, while 991 million Iraqi dinars ($850,000) will go towards renovating Sulaimaniya stadium; […]
Belgian-British Firm to Build Govt Compound in Wasit
A Belgian-British company has reportedly won a contract from the Ministry of Construction and Housing to build a housing complex for its members in Wasit [Wassit] province. The company, which has not been named, has conducted field investigations for the project, which will include 240 housing units within a number of six-story residential buildings, according […]
New Iraq GDP Growth Forecast from Central Bank
Iraq's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by an average of at least 9.4 percent annually between 2012 and 2016, the deputy governor of the central bank, Mudher Kasim, told Reuters on Sunday. "We expect Iraq's GDP in 2015 to jump to $360 billion from $170 billion currently ... The reason will come […]
Hyundai Signs $36m Contract for Iraqi Car Plant
The 'Iraqi Automobile Industry Company' [State Company for Automotive Industry] has reportedly signed a contract with the South Korean company Hyundai to manufacture and assemble Hyundai cars. The contract, worth with 44 billion Iraqi dinars [$36 million], involves the production of 2000 saloon cars annually. The manufacturing line is to be completed within three years. […]
Iraq Shortlists 6 Firms to Replace SGS for Pre-Import Inspection
AKnews reports that Iraq's planning ministry has shortlisted six international inspection companies as possible replacements for Swiss company SGS. At a press conference in Baghdad on Monday, Planning Minister Ali Shukri (pictured) confirmed that SGS had lost the contract for Pre-Importation Inspection, Testing, and certification of Goods into Iraq (ICIGI) due to poor performance, and […]
Removing Zeros from Iraqi Dinar to Start in Sept
AKnews reports that the process of removing three zeros from the Iraqi dinar and replacing current banknotes with new ones will begin in September. The announcement, which will see the Iraqi Central Bank (ICB) re-print 30 trillion dinars ($26 billion), was made despite government fear over the project. Abdul-Hussein Abtan, a member of the economic […]
Iraq Improves Terms of 4th Round Energy Auction
Iraq has reportedly made "favourable" changes to some of the terms of the 20-year technical service contracts offered under the 4th energy licensing round. International companies have been invited to compete for the rights to explore for oil and gas in 12 blocks to be auctioned in May. According to Dow Jones, the most important […]
British Politicians Visit Iraqi Kurdistan
A member of the Scottish Parliament joined a delegation of British MPs to the Kurdistan Region last week in order to meet local leaders and explore ways to strengthen political, cultural and economic ties with the Region. The delegation, which consisted of members from Westminster’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Kurdistan Region and the […]