The White Paper for Economic Reform:

by **claud39** Wed Nov 04, 2020 11:17 am

[size=23]The White Paper for Economic Reform:
- Lays out a roadmap to address the financial crisis and a 3 to 5 year plan to reform the economy
For more on the White Paper: [size=0]https://bit.ly/35X2nvy

#EconomicReform #WhitePaper #Iraq[/size][/size]

10:49 AM · 4 nov. 2020·Twitter for Android

Iraq - The White Paper for Economic Reform: El_ZUyFXIAIzGzn?format=jpg&name=large

Iraq - The White Paper for Economic Reform: El_ZUyFXIAIzGzn?format=jpg&name=large

https://twitter.com/FieldIraq/status/1324015855982829571/photo/1

by **claud39** Wed Nov 04, 2020 11:21 am

Finance Minister: Industrialized countries and international organizations support white paper reforms

Thursday, October 22, 2020

Iraq - The White Paper for Economic Reform: Mof49875t75858utu887644

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Ali Abdul Amir Allawi, announced the support of international organizations and industrial countries for the White Paper.

During his participation in the tour of the Prime Minister, Mr. Mustafa Al-Kazemi, to a number of European countries, the Minister of Finance said that "the white paper received absolute support from the industrialized countries and international organizations for the first time."

Noting that "the international support and welcoming the white paper is an achievement of the Ministry of Finance."

His Excellency added, "The international organizations saw that Iraq faces daunting economic challenges that have been overshadowed by the Corona crisis and the drop in oil prices, and that the White Paper is an ambitious program for comprehensive economic reform, strengthening the growth of the private economy and protecting the most vulnerable groups."

He pointed out that "the industrialized countries and international organizations announced their support for the Iraqi government's vision of reform not only to ward off the current crises, but to create permanent economic opportunities for the Iraqi people that meet their aspirations."

Earlier, the Finance Committee in the Iraqi Parliament announced its support for the white paper that aims to reform and activate the private sector and change the course of the national economy from the role of state control to the role of organization, law enforcement, attention to vulnerable groups and social welfare and work to introduce radical improvements to the state’s management of the public financial system. To reduce the continuous waste of resources, it also seeks to restructure the banking sector and put in place scientific and real treatments to raise the production of the public sector.

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Media Office of the Minister of Finance

October 21, 2020

http://www.mof.gov.iq/Pages/MOFBannerHeadlineDetail.aspx?BannerNewsID=854

by **claud39** Tue Nov 17, 2020 1:11 pm

A new reform paper from Parliament ... will be merged with the white paper

11/17/2020

Economy News - Baghdad

The House of Representatives intends to present a new reform paper that is synonymous and consistent with the "white paper" proposed by the Council of Ministers last October.

Soon, the first round of negotiations between the government and parliament will start, with the aim of merging these two papers and turning them into a unified draft law regulating the financial and economic reform process.

The new paper that was prepared a few days ago by the Parliamentary Finance Committee after receiving more than fifty proposals and a note from Council members will be brief and not lengthy, and it will depend on setting up a mechanism to regulate collection and work at border crossings and review the licensing rounds.

Thamer Thebian, a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, explains that in the next few days, joint dialogue sessions will start between the Parliamentary Finance Committee and the Ministry of Finance to discuss the terms and paragraphs of the reform white paper, pointing out that the meetings aim to convert the reform paper into a draft law for approval in Parliament.

The white paper that the government sent to Parliament last October, consisting of about a hundred pages, is a plan for financial and economic reform that has been deteriorating for years and aims to invest the country's vast and large resources and manage them in a discreet manner over a period of three to five years.

"The reform white paper bill will include observations and proposals by the House of Representatives and work on adding articles that oblige the government to send a number of draft laws to the legislative authority to organize the process of economic and financial reform."

The White Paper identified the defects in the Iraqi economic system for several years, and proposed solutions represented in restructuring the public companies owned by the state and converting them into private companies, and fixing the defects in the ration card system in a way that secures the protection of those with limited income and withholding them from families whose income exceeds the ceiling. a certain.

As soon as the Parliamentary Finance Committee began reviewing the articles and paragraphs of the reform paper, the parliamentary blocs and a number of council members began to send their comments and proposals to be included in the white paper before returning it to the government.

Regarding the remarks of parliamentary committees and political blocs, Ikhlas Al-Dulaimi, a deputy from the KDP bloc, confirms that "the number of proposals and observations of the political blocs and parliamentary committees on the white paper amounts to about fifty proposals," adding that "the Parliamentary Finance Committee will begin reviewing these proposals soon.

Financial experts and specialists consider the reform paper that it seeks to transform the Iraqi economic system from a rentier state that relies on oil revenues by 90% to an agricultural industrial state that opens its doors to foreign and domestic investment.

Al-Dulaimi, who is also a member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, explains that "the political blocs, parliamentary committees and members of the House of Representatives submitted (35) proposals to the Parliamentary Finance Committee, which in turn put forward about (15) proposals and notes on the white paper."

Despite optimism about the content and provisions of this reform paper, there are political and parliamentary parties who doubt its procedures and consider it cruel and difficult to implement in light of the current economic crisis, and the high rates of unemployment and poverty due to the Corona pandemic.

The paper also included a review of fuel subsidies for state-owned oil companies, and the proceeds from selling black oil should return to the state treasury, issuing national bonds and instruments and offering them for public circulation in the Iraq Stock Exchange, as well as studying the current exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar and taking into account the requirements of financial and monetary stability. And to achieve the competitiveness of the Iraqi economy.

In this context, a parliamentary source, who refused to be identified, states that “the Finance Committee in the House of Representatives has formed a sub-committee of its members to review the content of the reform white paper and unify it with the vision of parliamentary reform that will be presented soon,” stressing that the relevant parliamentary committees will discuss the new reform paper with the government.

For his part, Yahya Al-Issawi, a member of the Parliamentary Economy and Investment Committee, confirms that "the parliamentary financial and economic committees have begun preparing a parliamentary paper that will be in harmony with the government paper to overcome the financial crisis that Iraq is going through."

The circumstances of the financial crisis and the collapse of oil prices in global markets and the repercussions of the Corona virus pandemic prompted Mustafa Al-Kazemi's government to review the financial policy in Iraq in order to overcome the financial distress threatening the Iraqi economy.

Al-Issawi added, "The parliamentary paper will be limited to how to collect and organize work at the border outlets and call for a review of licensing rounds," considering that "these steps are a short-term plan."

The white paper included a plan to reduce public sector salaries and reform the state's financial sector in order to ensure an end to the system of quotas and patronage that political elites rely on to consolidate their powers.

The MP from Baghdad governorate continues his speech by saying that "the two parliamentary financial, economic and investment committees will work together and in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance to merge these two papers (government and parliament) into a unified draft law that sets solutions and remedies to overcome the financial crisis that Iraq is going through," adding that "the parliamentary paper will be brief." And not lengthy. "

Source: term

https://economy-news.net/content.php?id=22729

by **claud39** Tue Nov 17, 2020 1:19 pm

[size=32]The White Paper for Economic Reforms: vision and key objectives[/size]

22 Oct 2020

[size=32] Iraq - The White Paper for Economic Reform: Artboard-v2-1

Iraq - The White Paper for Economic Reform: Artboard-v2-1

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The Iraqi government has formally adopted the White Paper for Economic Reforms prepared by the Crisis Cell for Financial and Fiscal Reform.

The White Paper seeks to put Iraq’s economy on a path that allows the state to take appropriate steps in the future to develop it into a diversified, dynamic economy. Dr. Ali Allawi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

The White Paper is a comprehensive programme that sets out a clear roadmap to reform the Iraqi economy and address the accumulated, decades-old serious challenges that confront it.

Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ali Allawi said that the White Paper seeks to put Iraq’s economy on a path that allows the state to take appropriate steps in the future to develop it into a diversified, dynamic economy that creates opportunities for citizens to live a decent life.

And although the current severe fiscal crisis that Iraq is going through is related to the recent sharp decline in oil prices and to the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic, the White Paper makes it clear that the causes of Iraq’s economic and financial woes date back several decades.

The White Paper identifies the expansion of the role of the state as a key cause of the crisis.

The roots of the crisis

The White Paper provides a detailed outline of the factors that have distorted the Iraqi economy, undermined its capacity to provide a decent life for large number of Iraqis, and its failure to keep pace with the economic developments that the world has witnessed.

The expansion of the role of the state

The White Paper identifies the expansion of the role of the state and emergence of a command economy in Iraq as a key cause of the crisis.

From the nationalisation of vital economic sectors in 1970s, to the commandeering of all economic levers by the state to support the war effort in the 1980s, through the period of sanctions imposed on Iraq in the 1990s, these shocks, as well as the absence of strategic planning, mismanagement, maladministration, patronage and misguided political ideology, all led to an expansion of the role of the state in all aspects of economic life in Iraq.

The Iraqi economy continued to be directed by the state after the events of 2003 because of the failure of the new political system to create a free and diversified modern economy as outlined in Iraq’s Constitution, and instead continued to rely on the state as the almost only driver of economic activity in the country.

The expansion of the role of the state, and the associated increase in the number of those employed in the public sector and the cost to Iraqi exchequer of their salaries and pensions, came at the expense of the government’s ability to invest in basic infrastructure in Iraq.

To illustrate the point, the White Paper points out that from 2004 to 2020, state expenditure on the salaries of civil servants and on public sector pensions increased by 400% in real terms, as the total number of public sector workers during the same period increased by threefold.

The cost of salaries and pensions of public sector workers is expected to be around 122% of Iraq’s oil revenue in 2020. The White Paper for Economic Reforms

And between 2006 and 2018, average public sector salaries increased by 134%, more than the increase in labour productivity, which rose by only 12%, or the cost of living, which rose by 28% during the same period.

Over the past 17 years, government spending on the salaries of state employees, and on public sector pensions became the fastest growing expenditure item in Iraq’s successive federal budgets during this period.
There are currently around 4,500,000 public sector employees and 2,500,000 pensioners.

Decline of the private sector

The expansion of the state’s role, in addition to the complex administrative system and the state’s weakness in imposing the rule of law, the militarisation of society, and the influence of non-governmental actors in public institutions, led to the decline of the Iraqi private sector.

With the exception of a number of small and medium-sized companies operating in the oil and telecommunications sectors, and very small companies operating in the fields of trade, retail, transport, construction, hospitality and textiles, there is almost a complete absence of private sector companies in manufacturing.

In addition, most of the larger private sector companies depend on providing services to the state and on government contracts.

The White Paper also identified other factors that led to the deteriorating economic situation in Iraq is, most notably:

The collapse of oil revenues
The impact of Covid-19
Mismanagement and lack of planning
The weakness of financial institutions
The absence of modern coherent systems for managing state revenues
An ineffective and outdated banking sector
Complex and antiquated government procedures
Destruction of infrastructure and the costs of the war against Daesh terrorists

Two strategic goals

The White Paper identifies two overarching strategic objectives. The first is to initiate an immediate reform programme to address the budget deficit to create a fiscal space to give time for the process of implementing the other wider reforms over the medium term.

The second objective is to put the economy and the federal budget on a sustainable path, after which Iraqis can decide and choose the economic direction of the country.

The White Paper anticipates that the short and medium-term objectives and associated reforms will require between 3 to 5 years to implement.

The reform pillars

The White Paper identified five key pillars for the reform programmes:

1- Achieving sustainable financial stability
Key reforms include:

Reducing the deficit from 20% to 3% of GDP and expenditure on salaries from 25% to 12.5% of the federal budget
Collecting electricity tariffs from all users based on the real price of fuel on global markets
Recovering and returning Iraq’s smuggled and stolen money
Increasing revenues from customs and taxes
Reforming Iraq’s Pensions Fund and move to gradually end federal budget support
Reforming financial management systems
Reviewing the current exchange rate of the dollar against the dinar

2- Implementing strategic reforms and creating sustainable job opportunities

Key reforms include:

Modernising and rehabilitating the financial sector
Modernising and rehabilitating the banking system, supporting the development of private banks, reforming government banks and introducing and activating the Core Banking System in Al-Rafidain and Rasheed Banks
Expediting the development of e-banking services
Establishing new trading markets, such as a commodity market and a currency exchange market (Forex)
Supporting the sectors that drive the economy, such as agriculture, oil and gas
Introducing a private sector support fund, simplifying procedures, and providing other non-financial aid
Creating job opportunities in the private sector and supporting small and medium enterprises
Adopting a national strategy for education and training that links educational outcomes with the future need for the labour market

3- Improving basic infrastructure

Building Iraq’s digital infrastructure is a key aim of the White Paper.

Key reforms include:

Increasing the effectiveness and improving the performance of all parts of Iraq’s electricity sector
Developing Iraq’s digital infrastructure, including the introduction of advanced technology (4G) at the beginning of next year, and preparing for the introduction of (5G) technology
Modernising the legal and regulatory framework of the transport sector, and encourage private investment in transport
Developing industrial cities and free zones in Iraq

4- Providing basic services and protecting vulnerable groups during and after the reform process

The reforms aim at establishing a unified and financially sustainable pension system for all Iraqis whether they are working in the public, private, cooperative or mixed sector. The White Paper for Economic Reforms

Key reforms include:

Improving water supply for both drinking and irrigation and complete sanitation projects and networks
Building 1,000 new schools during the period of the reform programme
Reforming the social security system
Establishing a unified and financially sustainable pension system for all Iraqis whether they are working in the public, private, cooperative or mixed sector
Completing and implementing the draft health insurance law to ensure that all Iraqis have access to essential health services

5- Improving governance and introducing changes to the legal framework to enable institutions and individuals to implement reforms

Reviewing and amending the official guidance in relation to government contracts
Introducing e-governance systems to strengthen oversight of government contracting and the collection of taxes and customs
Working with specialist investigative international organisations to return the large sums of money smuggled out of Iraq
Introducing an electronic governance system in the field of government contracting and tax and customs collection
Completing the project establishing the National Information Centre to facilitate the introduction of government e-services to citizens, and automate the procedures for obtaining key documents such nationality and passports and accessing pensions and social security
Introducing electronic signature and transactions throughout the public administration system and phasing out paper transactions

A detailed implementation plan of White Paper will be published later to outline the required process, identify key stakeholders and establish timelines and monitoring mechanisms.

https://gds.gov.iq/iraqs-white-paper-for-economic-reforms-vision-and-key-objectives/

by **claud39** Thu Nov 19, 2020 11:40 am

[size=36][rtl]The white paper ... on the experts' table[/rtl][/size]

Wednesday 18th November 2020

Iraq - The White Paper for Economic Reform: Alsabaah-54871

Baghdad: Shukran Al-Fatlawi

The Iraqi Economic Council held an economic symposium to discuss the White Paper presented by the government under the auspices of the Parliamentary Finance Committee and the Parliamentary Economic and Investment Committee and in the presence of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Minister of Finance Dr. Ali Allawi, the President of the National Investment Commission Mrs. Soha Al-Najjar, the President of the Iraqi Trade Bank Mr. Salem Chalabi, and an advisor The Prime Minister, Mr. Muhammad Al-Hakim, and a large group of economic organizations and unions.

Chairman of the Economic Council Ibrahim Al-Masoudi Al-Baghdadi welcomed the attendees and said: "The topic of the symposium dealt with the importance of the White Paper and its preparation, and ways to advance the national economy, drawing on the opinions of economists and specialists on it from the attendees, in order to find the necessary solutions to change the paths of the national economy towards a better stage commensurate with Iraq's economic capabilities."

Employee productivity

As for the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ali Allaweef, he said: “In the first cabinet meetings, we agreed to form a committee to deal with the financial crisis consisting of five people. The committee began working on the white paper in cooperation with five other Iraqi experts. The core of the White Paper Preparation Committee was 10 people, and then it expanded to include 40 people. After the historical narration of the reasons for the deterioration of the economic situation, we started by analyzing the causes of the problem of low productivity of the Iraqi employee and indicating cases of continuous decline in the Iraqi economy until the state became lacking in control of its finances, and we reached in the result the approval of more than 450 measures that must be taken to achieve the goals and treatments of the white paper, As well as there are annexes that will be issued for the white paper. "

Software policy

In turn, a member of the Iraqi Economic Council, Ghadeer Al-Attar, suggested adopting the program policy for the ministries, and the achievement of each institution is reviewed monthly and quarterly. Thus, the Council of Ministers evaluates the ministries ’work in an accurate manner, which contributes to rationalizing government spending and achieves the goals that have set the programs. Cars through ZSCO for the production of cars such as Volvo and Isuzu, as well as production of sedans. Al-Attar pointed to "the severe damage caused by the introduction of damaged cars to the safety of citizens and the need to encourage the manufacture of new cars because of their positive impact on the national economy and their operation for thousands of workers. A detailed study on the subject will be submitted to the Minister of Finance for review."

Implement reforms

Advisor to the Prime Minister Muhammad al-Hakim stated that "the philosophical framework of the white paper includes a time space estimated at five years, and in our estimation, the White Paper is a road map for Iraq's economic problems and is not a radical solution to all problems and obstacles in the Iraqi economy, and that there must be a real will and consensus to implement reforms and measures." Mentioned in the paper.

https://alsabaah.iq/35282/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B6%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1

by **claud39** Sat Nov 21, 2020 9:53 am

A press release issued by the Information Office of the Ministry of Finance

Thursday 19 November 2020

Iraq - The White Paper for Economic Reform: Mof-design-f-2-(2)-slice_03

[url=http://www.mof.gov.iq//Lists/Banner/Attachments/868/logo f.jpg][/url]

Committed to the government program in reforming the economy and diversifying state treasury revenues, due to the financial crisis the country is going through, and in implementation of the reform paper (the white paper), which added a focus on customs and tax automation.

The automation system will enhance the management of the financial situation in light of the current financial crisis, and develop the necessary solutions to achieve financial reform and improve the performance of financial institutions in a way that strengthens the structure of the Iraqi economy in the face of future challenges and will contribute to solving economic problems in Iraq.

And based on the law on financing the fiscal deficit approved by the Iraqi Council of Representatives, which included the introduction of the electronic system in the procedures and activities of customs and taxes.

The Ministry of Finance, in cooperation with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNCTAD, sought to implement the ASYCUDA system, the electronic customs data system, for the purpose of implementing automation and simplifying procedures in customs as part of its development and improvement of its performance that achieves rational and effective management as well as achieving financial sustainability and diversification of the economy in accordance with the principles of integrity and transparency And the fight against corruption and the ministry seeks to make it one of the most important sources of support for the state treasury, after oil revenues.

For all of the above, the Ministry of Finance, in line with the House of Representatives’s approval of the Fiscal Deficit Financing Act, which obligated the Council of Ministers to automate the customs and tax system and collect customs duties for imported goods, proceeded to submit a customs automation project to the Cabinet, which authorized the Minister of Finance to negotiate and contract with UNCTAD. ) To automate the customs work.

Whereas, the ASYCUDA system is one of the global customs systems and is applied in more than (90) countries in the world.

The program presented by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is one of the projects that will be implemented at a very competitive cost, and international experts in customs automation will be used, which will contribute to achieving benefits for the Iraqi economy and providing effective services to the commercial community and government, as the program aims to: -

Simplifying and improving customs procedures, speeding up work, shortening time, and dispensing with paper mail.

:small_blue_diamond: The program enjoys high transparency as it is from an international organization and according to international standards specialized in customs procedures

:small_blue_diamond: calculation and collection of customs duties and other taxes and 100% and non - inventory expenses associated with the well - known customs operations.

:small_blue_diamond: Modernizing customs controls that contribute to protecting the national economy.

:small_blue_diamond: Shortening the clearance time for goods, in addition to contributing to combating customs and tax smuggling by relying on a selective system by determining the data path and eliminating corruption.

:small_blue_diamond: Draw the economic plan for the trade exchange process according to the reliable and accurate commercial and financial data provided by the electronic system

:small_blue_diamond: provide customs outlets and management information fast and accurate on time and the extraction of foreign trade statistics.

The program will be managed by Iraqi hands after being trained on the program by international experts, which will enhance the performance improvement of human resources.

The system that the Ministry of Finance will adopt will enable the government to achieve its goals and implement its reform programs in the economic, political and financial fields in a sound manner, which was stipulated in the White Paper as it will work to ensure the collection of government revenues in an effective manner and will contribute to encouraging legitimate trade and curbing illegal trade that threatens the security and safety of the country. And that the government seeks to eliminate outlets of corruption through concerted efforts with the Ministry of Finance for the purpose of interacting with the global trade community.

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Information Office of the Minister of Finance
November 19, 2020

http://www.mof.gov.iq/Pages/MOFBannerHeadlineDetail.aspx?BannerNewsID=868