Dr. Shabibi at The World Bank 9/24/2011

Dr. Shabibi at The World Bank 9/24/2011 (Eagle Has Landed post)
09/24/2011 As we all know by now, Dr. Shabibi will be speaking today, Saturday, September 24, 2011 at The World Bank in Washington, D.C.

The meeting is from 2pm until 3:30pm EST

The meeting is entitled:

Launch of the Republic of Iraq Financial Sector Review

On Saturday September 24, the World Bank will host a discussion on a new comprehensive report about Iraq’s Financial Sector. The report highlights the potential of the country, ongoing reforms and remaining challenges.

Opening remarks will given by the Bank’s Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa region Inger Andersen, Iraq’s Minister of Finance, Rafi El Essawi and the Governer of Iraq’s Central Bank Sinan Al Shabibi. The session will be moderated by Omer Karaspan, Knowledge Coordinator at the Bank’s Middle East and North African region.

http://go.worldbank.org/L1CJS519U0

Is there a site where we can listen live?

Found this report on the World Bank website entitled "Republic of Iraq Financial Sector Review"

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/MENAEXT/0,,contentMDK:23010412~pagePK:146736~piPK:226340~theSitePK:256299,00.html

man,
there's a ton of info on this report, and lots of numbers....wonder if they could be used in any way starting on page 20 of the "full report"

Folks, the entire report is 244 pages. I scanned the document for key words and phrases relted to the revaluation.

On Page 30 it states, "The accumulation of foreign exchange reserves at the CBI allowed Iraq to stabilize the Dinar, reverse the dollarization process, and contain inflation. Since early 2009, the exchange rate has been kept at ID1170 per US dollar. Total external debt has decreased from 137.9 percent of GDP in 2009 to 106.7 percent of GDP in 2010, and is projected to decline further to 37.1 percent and 32.6 percent of GDP in 2011 and 2012, respectively."

On page 195, in the table (bullet point #1), it states a short-term task to, "Maintain current monetary and exchange rate policy stance aimed at keeping inflation at low levels and further reducing dollarization."

I'm not an economist of financial guru, but I could not find any discussion related to the revaluation of the dinar (at least not any time soon). There are varoius other sections referring to valuation of the dinar, but again, nothing that indicates a near-term revaluation. I would really like the opinion of the forum's economists and/or financial experts to review this and to give us the skinny on what this all means.

Below is the link to the offical report, and I would believe whatever plans they have are laid out are in this report, and not smoke and mirrors......the report is in black and white.....click on the link and read it.


http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/MENAEXT/0,,contentMDK:23010412~pagePK:146736~piPK:226340~theSitePK:256299,00.html

Thanks.

Summary of Key Recommendations

While work should commence on a broad range of issues, some key decisions need to be taken immediately, while others may be implemented over the medium term. Key issues to be addressed up front are the role of state banks and the creation of a level playing field for all banks. This will need to be followed by the early adoption of the proposed permanent Securities Law and steps to turn the insurance Diwan into an effective supervisor. Supporting ongoing efforts will be needed to address financial sector infrastructure, including supervision, credit registry, collateral framework, judicial systems, and accounting and auditing frameworks.

A crucial step, also to signal seriousness of intent, is to clean up the balance sheet of Rafidain Bank and Rasheed Bank, which has been under discussion since 2006. Since more time may be required to clarify some of the disputed items on the balance sheet, the best approach will be to transfer disputed assets and liabilities of the two banks to a newly created asset/liability management company to permit the slimmed down Rafidain Bank and Rasheed Bank to focus on moving forward with their operational restructuring. The latter process is well formulated in the 2006 memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Iraq and should be carried out over the next two years. Once the balance sheet is cleaned up, the capital of the two banks should gradually be brought up to the level prevailing for private banks by June 2013. Once the reform of Rafidain Bank and Rasheed Bank is well under way, the authorities should consider more generally the role of state banks in the economy, including that of ITB and the four smaller sectoral banks, with a view to eventual liberalization.

As noted above, private banks operate on an uneven playing field. An immediate priority should be to announce the removal of all impediments for private banks

REPUBLIC OF IRAQ FINANCIAL ii xxi i SECTOR REVIEW

in doing business with the government and state owned enterprises. Given some concerns over the strength of private banks, some elements, such as the size of letters of credits, could be phased in over a period of two years (but preannounced) to permit enhancement of the effectiveness of banking supervision to take hold as well as some consolidation of the banking system following the increase in minimum capital levels. It is clear that this potential expansion of private banks’ business opportunities entails keen vigilance on the part of the banking supervision department of the CBI to ensure the safety and soundness of the private banks.

A permanent Securities Law has been under discussion for several years. The government need to urgently conclude these discussions, after also considering the recommendations contained in this report. The Law should then be presented to Parliament for speedy passage. Early passage of the Law is required to allow the ISC to enhance its role in developing capital markets.

The insurance market is at an early stage of development. Nevertheless it is urgent that the Insurance Diwan be given the human resources to allow it to take on its assigned role of regulating the insurance market. As noted in the report, the insurance law will need to be amended to allow the introduction of internationally recognized principles of supervision.
Carrying out the review has posed a number of unique challenges. Access to key officials and market participants within Iraq was severely limited because of the security conditions and the team therefore had limited possibilities to assess first hand actual implementation and enforcement of rules and regulations. Moreover, due to the recent introduction of many of the prudential regulations, there is little track record of compliance and enforcement. Nevertheless, in spite of these caveats, this assessment point clearly to a number of key issues that need to be addressed to underpin the development of Iraq’s financial system.

The report comes up with key recommendations some of which are short term, in the sense that they should be initiated immediately. Others will be ongoing and may only be fully realized in the medium term. All these aim at enhancing the performance and soundness of the financial sector in Iraq, and ensuring that it plays a key role in financial intermediation and overall economic growth.