Questions and confusion… Rafidain Bank suspends all loans and advances, except for “Riyada”
Questions and confusion… Rafidain Bank suspends all loans and advances, except for “Riyada”
2025-11-22 00:41
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Informed sources revealed on Saturday that Al-Rafidain Bank has suspended all advances and loans, with the exception of the “Riyada” initiative adopted by the current caretaker government headed by Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani.
The sources explained to Shafaq News Agency that a large number of citizens who visit the bank branches are surprised to be informed that there is no credit plan for this year, which has led to the suspension of all various loans, including loans for construction, renovation, purchase of housing units and a house.
He added that the bank has not yet activated any alternative financing programs, which has raised questions among citizens about the reasons for limiting itself to the “Riyada” initiative at a time when the need for housing loans is increasing.
Questions and confusion
According to sources, Iraqi citizens have become increasingly confused about the policies of the state-owned bank after it intensified its work on the “Riyada” initiative project, injecting huge sums of money daily while continuing to suspend advances, loans, and other banking facilities for months.
Citizens confirmed to Shafaq News Agency that the bank has limited its granting of financing to that initiative only, wondering whether this trend represents an ongoing election project, or whether it falls under suspicions of financial waste and the disposal of depositors’ money without clear justifications?
Citizens who had frequented the bank in the past period pointed out that this year should have witnessed the reactivation of various loans and advances, especially construction and housing loans and personal loans, but the bank focused exclusively on Riyada, which raised widespread questions.
They called on regulatory and financial authorities to open a comprehensive investigation into the nature of the daily disbursement mechanism for billions within the initiative, and to ensure the integrity of the procedures and the absence of any administrative or financial violations, stressing that transparency in the work of banking institutions is a right of depositors and the Iraqi public.
The Iraqi government launched the “Riyada” initiative in early March 2023 to support young people by providing loans and small projects aimed at strengthening the private sector and creating new job opportunities.
The initiative’s training activities began in July 2023, while the first batch of loans was launched in March 2024, registering broad participation from Iraqi youth.
The number of those registered on the initiative until last August reached approximately 500 participants aged between 18 and 50 years, and more than 90,000 of them participated in training during 18 months, while 48,000 people completed the training, and 12,000 loans were actually delivered, at a rate of about one billion dinars per week, which resulted in the creation of about 22,000 job opportunities in various activities of the private development sectors, according to a statement issued by the Media Office of the Prime Minister.
shafaq.com
