March 7, 2011
Iraqi govt. has few options to improve economy
Baghdad, The Undersecretary of a Ministry, a government adviser and two economists said Monday that the Iraqi government has few options and need to put developing economic policies in the public and private sectors to confront all the difficulties that hinder the progress of although the latter put policies and strategic plans to improve the Iraqi economy in all sectors in an effort to create an improvement that face all challenges.
The adviser of the Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdullah Hussein Al-Ankabi told AKnews that the available options for the government to improve the economic situation are few as a result of the presence of four million government employees in the country which includes 31 million people.
He pointed out to some of the procedures taken by the Government this year, represented by increasing the financial allocations of the ration card from three to six billion dollars, noting that it will be reflected positively on the quantity and quality of food items on the citizens.
"The investment factor is the only available option for the Iraqi government to improve the economic situation," stressing on the need to protect completely the investors and investments and to facilitate the process of granting licenses and the allocation of lands in order to improve the investment and construction in the country that are capable of ensuring a lot of working opportunities and improve their living conditions."
"The investment opportunities in Iraq that may improve the economic situation are not big, especially since most of the general budget of the sate is operational consumable," stressing on "the need for economic reforms by the government represented by transfering allocations and granting powers to the provinces to get rid of the centralism that increases the routine in the implementation of required projects."
The Iraqi governments are facing since 2003 challenges in the economic sector, most notably the confusion that occur in the development of annual budgets described by economists as great, but the areas of exchange in it don't go to investment but to the operational area which suffers from administrative and financial corruption that affected the high incidence of poverty, unemployment and poor services in the country.
On the other hand Ali al-Shummari, the economic expert and member of the Arab Council for economic and academic policies at Petra Jordanian University called the government to pledge the citizens to make optimal use of economic resources and determine the size of government in the economy which is measured by government spending to National Production so that it does not exceed 15-25%.
"The government should put an end for the poor distribution of financial allocations through reviewing the financial allocations for the three presidencies (the Republic and parliament and cabinet), where they exceed the allocations of service ministries."
"The government must face the low efficiency of use of financial resources to focus its impact on economic growth and social development in the state," pointing out that the latest growth indications of the Iraqi economy shows the high proportion of administrative and financial corruption in the institutions and departments, and thus decrease the effectiveness of public spending and purpose towards economic reform and raise the level of social development."
"The government must promote and strengthen and activate the exchange controls through the monthly reports that focus on the performance of the development plan and on all ministries, in addition to preparing annual reports to accounting the defaulting ministries in their work, as well as the need to form an advisory economic council that include in its membership a group of economists in order to raise the recommendations and advice to the government so that it will be obliged to apply them."
While Samir Alwan, the financial expert and former member of the Baghdad Commerce Chamber stresses on the need to pursue a policy of fiscal discipline in order to avoid the risk of entering Iraq in financial chaos that lead him to enter into the economic crisis tunnel.
Alwan told AKnews that the policy of fiscal discipline is achieved in the adoption of precautionary oil price policy where the rate of oil prices for the last three years will be less than the expected global oil prices by 15 dollars."
He also stressed on the need to "establish sovereign wealth fund which capital is made from the difference between the precautionary price of oil from its global level, in addition to the establishment of similar funds which resources come from the petro-dollar allocated to the oil producing provinces."
"The petro-dollar funds will be the safety valve of the Iraqi economy from changes in world oil prices and can also provide capital investment in the future."
The head of the Central Agency for Statistics and the Deputy Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation Mahdi al-Allak believes that the Iraqi economy needs to achieve goals and concepts and theorical foundations that will develop its situation, especially with the great challenges facing the country at this time.
About the most prominent obstacles that face the Iraqi economy, Allak said that the weak production and the elements of empowerment and declining industries and agriculture are the main reasons behind slower economic growth in Iraq," stressing on "the importance of these sectors in supporting the local production."
"There is a risk in relying entirely on the profit-taking economy, and relying on oil imports assuring that "the key steps to improve the economic situation is represented by improving both the agricultural and industrial sectors and energy saving."
The value of the 2011 Iraqi budget passed by the parliament on Feb. 20 is estimated with 82,006,000,000 U.S. Dollars, based on the $76.50 for one barrel of oil and export of 2.2 million barrels per day.
The budget deficiency for 2011 was estimated to be around $13.4 billion at a time Iraq depends on oil exports by about 95 % to support the budget, in the presence of the dilapidated infrastructure in all sectors in the country as a result of long years of siege and war during the last two decades of the last century.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/223452/
Baghdad, The Undersecretary of a Ministry, a government adviser and two economists said Monday that the Iraqi government has few options and need to put developing economic policies in the public and private sectors to confront all the difficulties that hinder the progress of although the latter put policies and strategic plans to improve the Iraqi economy in all sectors in an effort to create an improvement that face all challenges.
The adviser of the Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdullah Hussein Al-Ankabi told AKnews that the available options for the government to improve the economic situation are few as a result of the presence of four million government employees in the country which includes 31 million people.
He pointed out to some of the procedures taken by the Government this year, represented by increasing the financial allocations of the ration card from three to six billion dollars, noting that it will be reflected positively on the quantity and quality of food items on the citizens.
"The investment factor is the only available option for the Iraqi government to improve the economic situation," stressing on the need to protect completely the investors and investments and to facilitate the process of granting licenses and the allocation of lands in order to improve the investment and construction in the country that are capable of ensuring a lot of working opportunities and improve their living conditions."
"The investment opportunities in Iraq that may improve the economic situation are not big, especially since most of the general budget of the sate is operational consumable," stressing on "the need for economic reforms by the government represented by transfering allocations and granting powers to the provinces to get rid of the centralism that increases the routine in the implementation of required projects."
The Iraqi governments are facing since 2003 challenges in the economic sector, most notably the confusion that occur in the development of annual budgets described by economists as great, but the areas of exchange in it don't go to investment but to the operational area which suffers from administrative and financial corruption that affected the high incidence of poverty, unemployment and poor services in the country.
On the other hand Ali al-Shummari, the economic expert and member of the Arab Council for economic and academic policies at Petra Jordanian University called the government to pledge the citizens to make optimal use of economic resources and determine the size of government in the economy which is measured by government spending to National Production so that it does not exceed 15-25%.
"The government should put an end for the poor distribution of financial allocations through reviewing the financial allocations for the three presidencies (the Republic and parliament and cabinet), where they exceed the allocations of service ministries."
"The government must face the low efficiency of use of financial resources to focus its impact on economic growth and social development in the state," pointing out that the latest growth indications of the Iraqi economy shows the high proportion of administrative and financial corruption in the institutions and departments, and thus decrease the effectiveness of public spending and purpose towards economic reform and raise the level of social development."
"The government must promote and strengthen and activate the exchange controls through the monthly reports that focus on the performance of the development plan and on all ministries, in addition to preparing annual reports to accounting the defaulting ministries in their work, as well as the need to form an advisory economic council that include in its membership a group of economists in order to raise the recommendations and advice to the government so that it will be obliged to apply them."
While Samir Alwan, the financial expert and former member of the Baghdad Commerce Chamber stresses on the need to pursue a policy of fiscal discipline in order to avoid the risk of entering Iraq in financial chaos that lead him to enter into the economic crisis tunnel.
Alwan told AKnews that the policy of fiscal discipline is achieved in the adoption of precautionary oil price policy where the rate of oil prices for the last three years will be less than the expected global oil prices by 15 dollars."
He also stressed on the need to "establish sovereign wealth fund which capital is made from the difference between the precautionary price of oil from its global level, in addition to the establishment of similar funds which resources come from the petro-dollar allocated to the oil producing provinces."
"The petro-dollar funds will be the safety valve of the Iraqi economy from changes in world oil prices and can also provide capital investment in the future."
The head of the Central Agency for Statistics and the Deputy Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation Mahdi al-Allak believes that the Iraqi economy needs to achieve goals and concepts and theorical foundations that will develop its situation, especially with the great challenges facing the country at this time.
About the most prominent obstacles that face the Iraqi economy, Allak said that the weak production and the elements of empowerment and declining industries and agriculture are the main reasons behind slower economic growth in Iraq," stressing on "the importance of these sectors in supporting the local production."
"There is a risk in relying entirely on the profit-taking economy, and relying on oil imports assuring that "the key steps to improve the economic situation is represented by improving both the agricultural and industrial sectors and energy saving."
The value of the 2011 Iraqi budget passed by the parliament on Feb. 20 is estimated with 82,006,000,000 U.S. Dollars, based on the $76.50 for one barrel of oil and export of 2.2 million barrels per day.
The budget deficiency for 2011 was estimated to be around $13.4 billion at a time Iraq depends on oil exports by about 95 % to support the budget, in the presence of the dilapidated infrastructure in all sectors in the country as a result of long years of siege and war during the last two decades of the last century.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/2/223452/
