ISX Trading Hits ID684 Million on Wednesday

The Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISX) trading activities hit 684 million Iraqi dinars on Wednesday. Wednesday’s session saw trading over shares of 36 out of 84 electronically-registered firms, 11 of them went down, 13 up while 12 others retained their previous rates. Traded shares hit 430.656 million worth more than 684.624 million dinars ($585,000) through 291 […]

Barzani Meets German Investors in Arbil

The President of Iraq’s Kurdistan region Massoud Barzani received the German deputy trade minister and his accompanying delegation on Wednesday at the Salah el-Din resort in Arbil, according to a presidential statement. During the meeting he announced the inauguration of the German trade and industrial office in Kurdistan to facilitate the work of German investors […]

Samarrai Optimistic About Investment

The Iraqi parliament Speaker Iyad al-Samarrai, said that Iraq was about to witness a surge of large foreign investment because of many signed oil agreements. Samarrai confirmed that, "International companies have started investing in Iraq which leads to further investment, referring to Turkish and Iranian companies and several European firms whch have shown strong interest […]

Oil sales $1bn up on budget in 4 Months

Iraq earned more than $17 billion in the first four months of this year an Oil Ministry spokesman said. The spokesman, Assem Jihad, said the sum is one billion dollars in excess of budget expectations for 2010. “The ministry exported 222.7 million barrels in the first four months of this, earning the country $17.218 billion,” […]

Gulf Keystone Announces Fundraising

Just last week, shares in Gulf Keystone rose sharply on improved sentiment regarding oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan. The shares have since given up much of that gain, on fears of dilution from a new round of fundraising. Details of the fundraising were announced on Tuesday. According to a statement from the company: “Gulf Keystone […]

An Apocalypse with a Silver Lining

By Mark DeWeaver Iraq faces a big downside risk from the European sovereign debt crisis—perhaps an even bigger risk than that of renewed sectarian violence. While Iraq’s limited financial links to the outside world make it immune to contagion through the banking sector, sustained debt deflation in Europe would result in a big drop in […]

Read our new Expert blogger on economics and finance starting this week

The sovereign debt crisis in Europe could be bad news for the Iraqi economy if it leads to a sustained bear market in oil.  But a more likely outcome is that the crisis will cause central banks to continue their ultra-loose monetary policy, thereby benefiting Iraq by keeping oil prices high. Our new expert Blogger, […]

Developing Abu Floss Port Reaches Final Stage

The project of rehabilitating Abu Floss Port in Basra province has reached its final stage, a media source from the Iraqi Ports Company said on Tuesday. “About 90 percent of the project has been finalized,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He noted that work has been executed by a local firm since the […]

International Fair in Basra

An international fair for food and agricultural products opened on Monday at Basra’s International Airport. “The fair will last for four days,” a local source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He noted that 150 local and foreign firms are participating in the fair. ( Aswat Al Iraq )