Government decision: Huge increase in Al-Rasheed funding and printing of exam notebooks outside Iraq

Government decision: Huge increase in Al-Rasheed funding and printing of exam notebooks outside Iraq

2025-02-12

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Council of Ministers decided, on Tuesday, to raise the capital of Rashid Bank from two billion dinars to 50 billion dinars, in addition to its approval to print examination notebooks outside Iraq for one year.

The Prime Minister’s Media Office said in a statement received by Shafak News Agency, “Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani chaired the sixth regular session of the Council of Ministers, during which general issues in the country were discussed, and the most important economic and service files were reviewed, in addition to discussing the priorities for implementing the government program, and discussing the topics included on the agenda and making decisions regarding them.”

He added, “Within the government’s ongoing approach to complete stalled and suspended projects, the following was approved: increasing the reserve amount for the component (the residential complex in Diwaniyah Governorate/Sunniyyah), increasing the total cost and supervision amount for the project, increasing the reserve amount for the project (the residential complex in Nineveh Governorate/Tal Afar District), increasing the reserve amount for the contracting company (Al-Hamdaniyah Sewerage with a capacity of (14,000 m3/day) turnkey), and increasing the total cost of the project.”

Regarding the completion of infrastructure projects for Samarra district, the Council approved “the formation of a committee to implement the infrastructure project for the city of Samarra, headed by the Minister of Construction and Housing, and the membership of the Governor of Salah al-Din, the Director General of Sewerage, the Director General of Planning, the Director of the Contracts Department at the Ministry of Construction and Housing, the Mayor of Samarra district, the directors of the district’s service departments, and the preparatory committee.”

He explained that “the committee undertakes the following tasks: the work of the review and approval committee stipulated in the instructions for implementing government contracts (2 of 2014), supervising the project in all its stages and until its completion, the powers granted by virtue of the approval of the Prime Minister according to the letter of the Prime Minister’s Office, dated December 22, 2024, directing an invitation to a solid consulting company, preferably a foreign one, for the purpose of reviewing the designs and supervising the implementation, provided that an independent component is included for the project, identifying the specialized companies to which the invitations are directed, and preparing a referral report, in a design and implementation manner and by virtue of the approval of the Prime Minister.”

Regarding the industrial sector, the Council approved “amending Cabinet Resolution (24413 of 2024), with the exception of industrial investment projects that have obtained an investment license in accordance with the Investment Law (13 of 2006) amended from its provisions, and to be satisfied with the texts contained in the aforementioned Investment Law, the System for the Sale and Lease of State and Public Sector Real Estate and Lands for Investment and Leasehold Purposes (6 of 2017), and Cabinet Resolution (234 of 2019), with its amendment, which stipulates that the transfer of ownership of the industrial project must have been subject to commercial operation for a period of no less than (3) years as a minimum; to ensure the implementation of the project and verify the seriousness of the investor.”

The Council also approved “increasing the capital of Rashid Bank from (2) billion dinars to (50) billion dinars, from the bank’s expansion reserve account, based on the provisions of the Public Companies Law (22 of 1997) as amended, and the Ministry of Finance shall take the necessary measures to implement the above.”

The statement continued, “The Council agreed to authorize the Minister of Finance to sign an addendum to the contract with the legal advisor to the Ministry of Finance (Clearly Cuttlefish Foundation), based on the text of paragraph (15) of the original contract for the Foundation to work as a legal advisor, regarding the subject of sovereign guarantees, as an exception to the instructions for implementing government contracts (2 of 2014).”

In the food file, “approval was given to sell local wheat at a price of (410) thousand dinars per ton to private mills, from the surplus stock of the General Company for Grain Trade.”

As part of the efforts to protect the local product, the Council approved “imposing an additional customs duty of (40%) of the unit of measurement of the product ( PET roll ) made of polyethylene granules, used in the production of healthy water cups, containers and transparent utensils for storing food, (for single use) imported from all countries and origins, for a period of 4 years without reduction, and monitoring the local market during the period of application of the additional customs duties, the General Authority of Customs applying the additional customs duty for the aforementioned product, and notifying the Department of Industrial Development and Regulation periodically about the quantity of imports of the aforementioned products, the value of the additional customs duties collected on the importer of the foreign product and the value of the importer, the exporting countries and the importing entities.”

The statement pointed out that “the Council recommended that the Ministry of Industry and Minerals take into account the amount of increase in imports compared to the previous three years to determine the extent of the unjustified increase, to indicate the ability of the complaining company to meet the market’s needs in a way that ensures that prices do not inflate, and to determine the importance of the protection required for the national economy.”

In this file, it was also decided that “the regulatory authorities shall review the effects resulting from imposing additional customs protection on the imported product. This decision shall be implemented after (120) days from the date of its issuance.”

In the energy file, it was “approved to send an official invitation to the company ( B1 ) to submit its offer and enter into negotiations with it to accelerate the implementation of the FSRU floating platform project to import liquefied gas, and to exempt the project from the instructions for implementing government contracts (2 of 2014) and the controls attached to it, and to grant the project management the authority to make direct purchases, provided that the results of the negotiations are presented to the Ministerial Council for Energy to submit a specific recommendation to the Council of Ministers.”

The Council of Ministers approved “the recommendation to the House of Representatives to approve the addition of the National Advisor for Mental Health at the Ministry of Health to the members of the Supreme National Authority for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances, mentioned in the draft law amending the first law of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Law No. (50) of 2017, which was approved by virtue of Cabinet Resolution (24761 of 2024), and sent to the House of Representatives.”

He also stated that “in order to organize and facilitate the performance of final exams, the Council authorized the General Directorate of Evaluation and Examinations to print exam booklets for the sixth grade of middle school (exclusively), and to prepare them from outside Iraq, based on the justifications stated by the Ministry of Education, in accordance with the contracting methods stipulated in the instructions for implementing government contracts (2 of 2014), for a period of one year only.”

In the field of regulating foreign relations, the Council of Ministers approved “exempting the Czech Republic from Cabinet Resolution (24933 of 2024), which includes the cancellation of the draft agreement to avoid double taxation and prevent evasion of taxes imposed on income and capital between the governments of Iraq and the Czech Republic.”

Also in this field, “authorizing the Iraqi ambassador to the Czech Republic to negotiate and sign a draft agreement to avoid double taxation and prevent evasion of taxes imposed on income and capital, between the governments of Iraq and the Czech Republic, based on the provisions of the constitution,” adding, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall prepare the necessary authorization document in the name of the Government of the Republic of Iraq for the Iraqi ambassador to the Czech Republic, in accordance with the approved procedures, and submit it to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers to obtain the signature of the Prime Minister.”

The Council also approved the controls and conditions for admission to the Iraqi Police College submitted by the Ministry of Interior, taking into consideration “determining the fees for study expenses at the Police College for those covered by Cabinet Resolution (24594 of 2024), and that the controls include a clause of reciprocity for other countries for students covered by the aforementioned Cabinet Resolution, taking into account what is stated in Police College Law No. (37) of 2000 (amended).”

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