Newspaper: the decline of Iraq’s import of gold to a third

Newspaper: the decline of Iraq’s import of gold to a third .. This is the arrangement of the country’s reserves of metal among the countries of the world

2017/12/20 00:28

Baghdad today – follow-up

Al-Hayat newspaper reported in a report published on Tuesday that the decline of Iraq’s import of gold to a third of what it was in previous years, while pointed out that the crisis in Kurdistan affected the import of the metal, which was often transported through airports Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.

The newspaper said in its report, “Iraq has maintained the rank of 37 in the volume of gold reserves globally, despite the decline in the rate of imports per third this year, amid calls for the introduction of this metal in banking and investment rather than the survival of a fortified Iraqi citizen. Gold in the Iraqi markets since the outbreak of war on the organization of the preacher, and the country was affected by the financial crisis caused by the decline in oil prices in world markets in 2014.

“The Iraqi market is the largest consumer of gold produced in the UAE, followed by Turkey, while the local gold industry workshops have completely disappeared due to their inability to compete with the importer and to meet the growing consumer desires and risks they have faced over the past years.”

The newspaper quoted major traders in the capital Baghdad, where this trade is managed and distributed throughout the provinces of Iraq, that “the largest quantities were imported through the airports of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah because of security guarantees, as the banks to transport them to the capital Baghdad, and decreased the rate of gold imports through the Kurdistan region, Compared to previous years, a drop of 65 percent. ”

According to the statistics of the Directorate of Quality Control of Jewelry in the Ministry of Planning in the region, trade exchanges in gold in the region decreased compared to the last three years, because of the financial crisis and the war against Daqash, as traders were monthly until 2013 to import more than 400 kilograms of gold But only 50 kilograms are now imported. ”

She pointed out that “the quantity of imported gold from the UAE and Turkey in 2013 from the Erbil and Sulaymaniyah international airports amounted to 114 tons, while in 2014 it was 77 tons, and in 2015 was 56 tons and last year the quantity imported was only 40 tons. Baghdad traders stopped importing this metal across the region after the outbreak of the political crisis between the region and Baghdad. ”

The World Gold Council announced the rise of the world’s reserves during the month, pointing out that Iraq has maintained the world’s 37th place of global reserves.

According to the report, the world’s reserves of gold rose by 133 tons to 33604 tons, while the United States ranked first in the world with 8133 tons, followed by Germany with 3373 tons.

The Council added that “Iraq has maintained the rank of 37 in the world in terms of these reserves out of the 100 countries listed in the international financial statistics of the global reserves of gold, while also maintained the fifth place in the Arab world, came after Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Algeria and Libya.”

The Council noted that “Iraq’s reserves of gold remained constant, recording 89.8 tons, representing 7.9 percent of the rest of the currencies,” noting that “the last purchase of Iraq from gold was in April 2014, where he bought 15.16 tons.”

“The Central Bank decided in early 2014 to develop pure gold alloys weighing between (50 and 1000 grams) for selling to gold dealers, investors and segments of society wishing to do so in Iraqi dinar.”

The Central Agency for Standardization and Quality Control of Iraq, according to the report of the newspaper, the conditions for the development of gold recycling outside Iraq, noting that “among the conditions to meet 50 thousand dinars per kilogram of gold.”

The newspaper quoted the economic adviser to the Prime Minister appearance of Mohammed Saleh, asserting that “Iraq imports annually between 60 and 70 tons of gold, while pointing out that the decline in prices indicates the strength of the Iraqi dinar.”

“Gold prices in the world have fallen dramatically, making gold prices lower than they were in 1978,” Saleh said, attributing the reason to “the purchasing power of the citizen, which was then low compared to the current time enjoyed by Iraqis with high purchasing power.”

The adviser explained that “the other reasons that led to the decline in gold prices, is the stability of the Iraqi dinar and its rise, which is linked to the high dollar is also global against other currencies,” stressing that “the decline of gold gives an indication of the strength of the Iraqi dinar.”

The newspaper quoted a member of the Committee on Economy and Investment MP Harith al-Harthy, “The adoption of the Central Bank policy of gold bullion targets other goals is to reduce the rate of inflation of the currency by absorbing the liquidity of the dollar in banks and citizens alike, and turn it gold, as it is more stable than The dollar that is suffering the repercussions of the global economic crisis. ”

Al-Harithi pointed out that “the actual experience proved the failure of the banking sector to find new ways or products to invest this huge metal in huge quantities of the Iraqi citizen.” He continued that “not to invest makes it a mere metal kept by the citizen for periods of time without benefit, even though Iraq knew the mechanism of lending citizens in exchange for gold, which is now disappeared.”

Al-Harthy concluded by saying that “Iraq contains huge amounts of gold and even foreign currency, and the lack of confidence between citizens and banks make the process of investment of this wealth almost non-existent, and banks to study the subject and find ways to encourage the citizen to resort to the bank and convert these hoards to liquidity invested in major investment projects “He said.

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