Expert: Jordanian and Gulf banks control the Iraqi banking sector and push it towards collapse
Expert: Jordanian and Gulf banks control the Iraqi banking sector and push it towards collapse
1-4-2025
Information / Special..
Economic expert Mustafa Akram Hantoush confirmed today, Saturday, that the banking system is going through a major crisis, pointing out that the Gulf and Jordanian banks have come to control the cash and dollar sector inside Iraq.
Hantoush said in a statement to Al-Maalouma Agency, “The Iraqi banking system is almost non-existent at the present time, as four or five Gulf and Jordanian banks control the movement of money.”
He added that “four Jordanian banks submitted applications to enter the Iraqi market, two of which succeeded in operating, while two others, namely Al-Ittihad and Al-Iskan, are still under study.”
He explained that “this situation reinforces the dominance of these banks over the dollar, while local banks are now facing major challenges, as some of them remain in the market, while others are forced to seek agreements with Jordanian and Gulf banks in order to continue operating,” adding that “those who do not succeed in reaching agreements with these banks will move towards merging or exiting the market.”
He pointed out that “the banking system was previously suffering from a weak structure, and today it is in a state of complete collapse,” stressing that “it has become very difficult to obtain loans in Iraq easily, and whoever succeeds in doing so needs relationships and mediation, which reflects the state of stagnation and paralysis in the Iraqi banking system.”
It is noteworthy that the United States imposed sanctions on 34 Iraqi banks in an attempt to restrict the Iraqi economy, which opens the way for five Jordanian and Gulf banks to enter the Iraqi market, with the aim of completely controlling the economy amid the silence of the Iraqi government.
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