By Robert Tollast Recently, a friend at Fikra Space, the pioneering Iraqi hackerspace group, emailed me some news that could have far reaching effects in Iraq. On the face of it, it probably seems like a fairly mundane development. Ideal Payments, the electronic payment providers, have partnered with Belgium based Monniz and Iraq's Taif Money […]
Tag Archives | Finance
Tags: Al Taif, banking, e payments, e-wallets, Finance, Internet penetration, Iraq, mobile payments, mobile penetration, mobile wallets, Monniz
KRG to Enter Bond Market
By Simon Kent. After months of talks, the Kurdish Regional Government says it has authorisation from Baghdad to issue bonds, in a move aimed at easing growing financial pains in the semi autonomous region. According to Bloomberg, the region needs approximately $1.4 billion to balance its books. Quoting IBN blogger Robert Tollast, the report noted how the KRG […]
Tags: bonds, Debt, Deutsche Bank, featured, Finance, Goldman Sachs, Iraq, Iraqi Government Bonds, KRG, Kurdish regional government, oil revenues
$21m for 2,000 Farmers in Karbala
A total of 25 billion Iraqi dinars [$21m] have been granted to farmers in Karbala in recent months to help them to increase their production, the director of the Karbala agriculture department said on Wednesday. “The Karbala agriculture department has granted 2181 farmers agricultural loans worth more than 25.229 billion dinars,” Baher Ghali told Aswat […]
Finance Minister Launches ID200b Project in Baghdad
Iraqi Finance Minister Baqer Jabr al-Zubaydi announced on Thursday that his ministry has earmarked 200 billion Iraqi dinars for the 10×10 project in the eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City, according to a press release. “During a meeting with the municipal council of Sadr City, Zubaydi called for investing the sum this year in the […]
A government of everyone and no-one
If a week is a long time in politics, it is a very long time in Iraq. The first day of this week in Iraqi politics witnessed a Sunday 23 May meeting between Iraqiyya leader Iyad Allawi and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. On the same day, the Washington Post released a new interview with Prime […]
Fee Exemption for Jordan Certificates of Origin
Iraq’s embassy in Jordan on Wednesday issued new regulations that entail exempting Jordanian made products from the fees charged for ratifying the certificate of origin, bills and related documents as of April 14, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The regulations are in line with decisions of the Economic […]
Tags: Finance, Industry & Trade
Finance Minister to Invest Japanese Loan
The Council of Ministers authorized Finance Minister Baqer al-Zubaidi to discuss investing the rest of a Japanese loan with the Japanese ambassador. “The council during its 15th session decided to authorize the minister to discuss investing the remaining amount of the Japanese loan (around $220 million) with the ambassador to determine the projects that could […]
Re-basing the Iraqi Dinar
The Central Bank of Iraq is planning to rebase the Iraqi dinar but hasn't decided yet on the timing of the move, the bank said in a statement last week. Affirms its commitment to its strategic projects, particularly knocking three zeroes from the Iraqi dinar," the statement said. "Despite the technical and logistical preparations for […]
Iranian bank opens branch in Basra
Iranian Bank has opened a branch in the southern province of Basra to facilitate money transfer between the two countries, the Iranian consul in the city said on Wednesday.
Iraq Expects to Step up T-bill Activity in 2010
Iraq expects to step up its Treasury bill activity in 2010 to help plug continuing budget deficits and foster a secondary treasury market, the Central Bank and Finance Ministry said in a submission to the IMF. Iraq, only just emerging from sectarian war but still battling a stubborn insurgency, also wants to develop foreign exchange […]
KBR Posts 4th-quarter Decline As Work Winds Down
Engineering and construction company KBR Inc. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 17 percent as U.S. military work in Iraq declined and some contract fees were reversed, and it trimmed the low end of its full-year outlook. Profit for the fourth quarter slid to $73 million or 45 cents a share, from $88 million, […]
$1.5m Fine for Insider Dealing re Kurdish Oilfield
Mehmet Sepil, Chief Executive Officer of Turkish oil exploration company Genel Enerji, has paid the biggest fine handed out by the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) to an individual for market abuse. Genel has a 25% stake in the licence to explore the Miran oilfield in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, with London-listed Heritage Oil […]