PARLIAMENTARY ECONOMY: ABSENCE OF ALL JUSTIFICATIONS FOR RAISING THE PRICE OF THE DOLLAR
PARLIAMENTARY ECONOMY: ABSENCE OF ALL JUSTIFICATIONS FOR RAISING THE PRICE OF THE DOLLAR
Wed, Aug 4, 2021 11:45 AM
Baghdad / National News Center
A member of the Parliamentary Economy Committee, Mazen Al-Faili, confirmed today, Wednesday, that there are no justifications for raising the dollar exchange rate, while the Finance and Central Bank demanded a return to the previous rate.
Al-Faili said, in a statement received by the “National News Center”, that “it is no secret to any follower that the decision to raise the exchange rate of the dollar has negatively and significantly affected citizens in the various layers of poor and fragile society, employees, and even traders and contractors.”
He added: “We believe that the justifications given by the government are unrealistic and unstudied for the following reasons:
1- The rise in oil prices in global markets, which contributed to a significant increase in the financial returns to the state treasury, which negates the need to raise the exchange rate of the dollar.
2- The average dollar sale in the Central Bank’s sales window has increased relatively, which means that raising the exchange rate did not stop the depletion of hard currency and money laundering operations, as the government claimed, as the data shows, for example, that Iraq sold in July 2020 an average of 183 million dollars per day in When he sold in July 2021 an average of 210 million dollars, which shows an increase in the quantities of dollars sold, which means the futility of raising the exchange rate.
3- OPEC’s decision to increase Iraq’s share of selling oil in world markets by 150,000 barrels per day, equivalent to (300) million dollars per month.
4 – What some justify raising the exchange rate for the purpose of supporting the local product is contradicted by the decisions that granted Jordan exemptions from customs duties for hundreds of materials and the sale of oil at a low price, as well as the absence of infrastructure for national industries and many raw materials imported from abroad in dollars, thus raising the cost of production and weakening its competitiveness with Similar imported product.
5- After more than eight months have passed since the exchange rate was raised, we wonder what the financial savings that occurred as a result of the exchange rate increase have been achieved. What was achieved by raising the exchange rate also leaked into the pockets of the corrupt!”
He continued, “The points we mentioned clearly indicate that there is no need to raise the dollar exchange rate, so we stress the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of the need to restore the exchange rate to what it was previously and not to invoke justifications that do not withstand the data and data that we have indicated.”
nnciraq.com