Rise of: Wars and sanctions removed Iraq from the global financial system
Rise of: Wars and sanctions removed Iraq from the global financial system
2-8-2023
Information/translation.
A report by the Rest of the World website confirmed, on Wednesday, that decades of wars and economic sanctions have made Iraq isolated from the global financial system and prompted the country to resort to using cash as the first means of economic transactions.
The report, which was translated by Al Malouma Agency, stated that “Iraqis are isolated from digital payment systems that most companies around the world take for granted, while less than a fifth of the population has a bank account, in addition to the lack of global financial payment services in the governorates, Wars, displacement and sanctions have also left the Iraqi economy underdeveloped and dependent on oil exports.
He added, “The currency market is one of the busiest parts of the old bazaar in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah. Currency counting machines sway as porters move stacks of Iraqi dinars, US dollars and other currencies around desks. As companies and customers around the world increasingly use digital transactions, still Criticism is the dominant feature in Iraq.
Entrepreneurs and business owners trying to grow the country’s anemic private sector face a dual challenge: local consumers are reluctant to adopt locally available electronic payment platforms, and Iraqis are cut off from the digital payment systems that most businesses around the world take for granted.
Anas Fadel, a currency market data analyst, said, “People here don’t understand digital currency. Everyone is used to cash and has more confidence in it than digital payments. But my colleagues and I definitely need it if we want to send money to Europe and other places in the world.”
The report stated, “According to the World Bank, most Iraqis do not use credit or debit cards, and the services of world-famous payment companies such as Strip, Apple Pay, and PayPal are not available in the country, and it is likely that these companies view operations there as a high-risk offer.” .
The report indicated that “the wars, displacement, and sanctions that have devastated Iraq since the early 1980s have left its economy lagging behind and dependent on oil exports, and efforts to reform outdated legal and financial regulations, develop the private sector, and diversify Iraq’s economic base are routinely faltered by vested interests. Corruption is a factor.” A key deterrent as the non-profit organization Transparency International ranked Iraq as one of the most graft-prone countries in the world in 2021.
As a result, the aspiring entrepreneurs – whom many consider important to the future of Iraq – are unable to perform many of the basic financial transactions common in economies around the world. Their businesses depend on cash transactions with their local clients, and they cannot expand abroad. Or easily securing financing from abroad, and these challenges certainly discourage people from pursuing their economic dreams, which increases social and economic frustration.
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