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Al-Nusairi: The Central Bank is leading the banking sector toward comprehensive reform, economic stimulation, and sustainable development.
7/10/2025
Economic and banking advisor Samir Al-Nusairi affirmed that the Central Bank continues to lead the Iraqi banking sector in accordance with its third strategy and its comprehensive banking reform project for the next two years, based on a continuous daily work system in cooperation with international consulting and auditing companies currently operating with the aim of achieving banking reform and moving banks to a stage of contributing to stimulating the economy, revitalizing the economic cycle, achieving economic growth, and transforming banks into a lever for sustainable development.
Al-Nusairi explained in an interview with Al-Eqtisad News that in order to motivate banks and develop banking operations so they can fulfill their duties stipulated in the Banking Law and the applicable instructions and executive regulations issued by the Central Bank, and serve the national economy and customers, it is necessary to carefully implement the reform measures outlined for them, as well as to re-review, evaluate, and classify banks.
Al-Nusairi pointed out that there are international standard criteria for classifying central banks that are agreed upon in most countries, such as controlling inflation, economic growth, monetary stability, independence, and the extent to which economic goals are achieved. Since central banks are subject to classification and since they are the ones that monitor and supervise banks, the classification of Iraqi banks must be based on international standard criteria approved in most countries, the basis of which is compliance with international banking standards, enhancing financial inclusion, encouraging competition, preventing monopoly in the banking market, providing opportunities for shareholders and investors to obtain profitable and sustainable returns, accelerating digital transformation, and a rapid transition to a solid national economy.
He explained that the reform, evaluation, and classification of the banking sector should be based on criteria of capital, assets, liquidity, profitability, and risk management. Additional programs should be adopted that are consistent with the Iraqi reality, such as approving the banks' operating results and final accounts for the last five years, focusing on analyzing assets, revenues, expenses, capital adequacy, indicators of capital investment, cash credit granted and its sectoral distribution, the return on capital ratio, return on assets, liquidity ratio, and the extent of banks' compliance with applicable banking instructions, particularly activating the national strategy for bank lending to finance small and medium-sized enterprises and applying environmental, social, and corporate governance standards.